Figure 1.

Schematic representation of skeletal muscle differentiation. Muscle regeneration is possible thanks to the functionality of adult muscle stem cells and the satellite cells. In homeostatic conditions, satellite cells are in a quiescent state, and after different stimulus caused by damage, they proliferate to generate myogenic precursors and to repopulate the satellite cell niche. Myoblasts express markers of muscle identity and fuse to each other to generate myotubes and myofibers, to eventually repair the damaged muscle fiber.