Figure 3.

Trend of myogenic differentiation during myosphere maturation and differentiation potential retained in quiescent cells of mature myospheres. (a) Time course of myosin expression in myospheres by western blot from the 1st to 23rd day of culture. (b) The cells of mature myospheres retain the capacity to proliferate and differentiate. The western blot quantitatively compares myosin expression in a monolayer: (1) original C2C12 cells that were never grown as myospheres and (2) cells derived from the dissociation of 23-day myospheres plated in a monolayer and allowed to differentiate. (c) C2C12 cells dissociated from 23-day myospheres (mature); replated in a monolayer, the cells incorporate BrdU while proliferating before differentiating and expressing myosin. Scale bar: 50 μm.