Fig. 5.

Functional analyses of myomixer homologs in different vertebrate species. (A) Myomixer KO C2C12 cells expressing mouse myomaker with or without myomixer from different vertebrate species were induced to fuse in DM for 1 wk. Cells were stained with anti-myosin and Hoechst. (B) Quantification of the fusion index in A. (C) The 10T1/2-GFP fibroblasts were infected by retroviruses expressing mouse myomaker with or without wild-type and mutant zebrafish myomixer and mixed with C2C12 cells for heterologous fusion following 1 wk of differentiation. (D) Quantification of the fusion index in C. (E) Myomixer KO C2C12 cells expressing mouse myomaker with or without wild-type or mutant zebrafish myomixer were induced to fuse in DM for 1 wk. Cells were stained with anti-myosin and Hoechst. (F) Quantification of the fusion index in E. Arrowheads indicate mononucleated cells; arrows indicate multinucleated cells. (Scale bars, 50 µm.)