Building Muscle

Different types of cells pattern our tissues, each decorated by the thousands of genes and proteins inside them. Transcription factors shape these patterns, helping to switch on sets of distinctive genes in different cells at different times. In these chunks of mouse leg muscle, for example, transcriptions factors like MAF help to create a mosaic of muscle fibres. Coloured stains highlight different type II fibres in red and green in the normal muscle on the left. Investigating further, researchers alter the pattern by removing a version of MAF – changing the balance of fibres (seen on the right). Our own muscles adapt to our lifestyle, changing the makeup of their fibres with the help of transcription factors. Learning more about these and the role of age and diet may help us to maintain healthy muscles for longer, fending off diseases like diabetes and muscular dystrophy.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by Shunya Sadaki and colleagues
• Laboratory Animal Resource Center in Transborder Medical Research Center, and Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Cell Reports, March 2023