Section 7: MYOD

What does MYOD do?

MYOD is a master regulatory gene for myogenesis (muscle formation).

What happens when MYOD is forcibly expressed in non-muscle cells?

Forced expression of MYOD in pigment, nerve, fat, liver, and fibroblast cell lines activates muscle-specific genes and converts them to muscle cells.

What did the MYOD experiments prove?

They proved that no additional tissue-specific factors other than MYOD are needed to activate the downstream program for terminal muscle differentiation.

Which two discoveries in 1987 led to the idea of master transcription factors?

The Antennapedia (Gehring) and MYOD (Weintraub) discoveries in 1987 led to the idea that individual master transcription factors can drive alternate cell fates.

What major discovery did this ultimately lead to?

This ultimately led to the development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a major discovery in regenerative medici