ArticleNature communications2021
TGFβ signaling curbs cell fusion and muscle regeneration.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
95 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 152 citations in OpenAlex.
- Skeletal muscle alterations in Marfan syndrome: a systematic review.Journal of muscle research and cell motility · 2025Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies revealed significant QTL and candidate genes for loin muscle area in three breeding pigs.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Muscle stem cells produce a protective Fibrillin-1 matrix to prevent precocious activation.Science advances · 2026Article
- Article
- Extracellular-matrix mediated stresses spatially bias myoblast fusion and myotube growth.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cell fusion after wounding requires plasma membrane damage and endocytosis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Electroconductive Soft Microcarriers for Suspension Culture of Skeletal Muscle Cells.Macromolecular bioscience · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis of the Skeletal Muscle Revealed the Effects and Mechanism of Mulberry Leaf Flavonoids on Alleviating Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage in Mongolian Horses.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- EMILIN1 emerges as a TGFβ/SETDB1-regulated secreted biomarker in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- Restorative macrophage-derived RNAseT2 stimulates muscle stem cell fusion via an SLK/N-WASP/actin bundling dependent axis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Immunotolerant Oligomer scaffolds promote regenerative remodeling and improved muscle structure and function after volumetric muscle loss.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- PDGFRβ signaling restrains myocyte function to limit the regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026Article
- Single-cell transcriptomics reveal mechanisms of skeletal muscle differentiation across duck embryonic development.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Divergent stem cell mechanisms govern the primary body axis and appendage regeneration in the axolotl.Science advances · 2026Article
- The double-positive cells in the tumor microenvironment.Journal of translational internal medicine · 2026Article
- SMAD2 ubiquitination through PY motif regulates skeletal muscle mass and fibrotic degeneration.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- CHAMP1 is an essential regulator for human myoblast fusion and muscle development.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Development of a split-toxin CRISPR screening platform to systematically identify regulators of human myoblast fusion.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Weighted Single-Step Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Candidate Genes for Carcass Traits and Primal Cut Yields in Hanwoo Cattle.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Muscle cell fusion is a multistep process involving cell migration, adhesion, membrane remodeling and actin-nucleation pathways to generate multinucleated myotubes. However, molecular brakes restraining cell-cell fusion events have remained elusive. Here we show that transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) pathway is active in adult muscle cells throughout fusion. We find TGFβ signaling reduces cell fusion, regardless of the cells' ability to move and establish cell-cell contacts. In contrast, inhibition of TGFβ signaling enhances cell fusion and promotes branching between myotubes in mouse and human. Exogenous addition of TGFβ protein in vivo during muscle regeneration results in a loss of muscle function while inhibition of TGFβR2 induces the formation of giant myofibers. Transcriptome analyses and functional assays reveal that TGFβ controls the expression of actin-related genes to reduce cell spreading. TGFβ signaling is therefore requisite to limit mammalian myoblast fusion, determining myonuclei numbers and myofiber size.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.