Table 1.

Growth- and differentiation-promoting factors (GF, DF) used (see Methods section for more detailed information about these reagents; references about their effects on myogenesis are given here)

Factor	Effects on myogenesis	GF combinations	DF combinations	References
FGF-2	Enhanced proliferation of myogenic progenitor cells	+		(Maley et al 1994; Miller et al 2000)
GDF-8(myostatin)	Inhibition of proliferation of myogenic progenitor cells		+	(McPherron et al 1997; Thomas et al 2000; Zimmers et al 2002; McCroskery et al 2003)
Follistatin	Inhibition of myostatin	+		(Armand et al 2003)
IGF-1	Enhanced differentiation and increased myofiber size–mass		+	(Florini et al 1996; Lawlor and Rotwein 2000; Bodine et al 2001; Heszele and Price 2004; Sandri et al 2004; Shavlakadze et al 2005)
TGF-β	Inhibitor of cell cycle progression, promotes differentiation and wound healing		+	(Derynck and Zhang 2003; Jakubowiak et al. 2000; Massague and Chen 2000; Massague et al 2000)
α-TGF-β	Neutralization of TGF-β activity	+