Rheumatology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  29 January 2016 | Open Access

  E2F function in muscle growth is necessary and sufficient for viability in Drosophila

  The transcriptional regulators E2F/Dp play a critical role in cell-cycle regulation, but it is unclear why E2F-deficient flies die. Here, the authors show this is linked to the function of E2F in adult Drosophilaskeletal muscle, with the contribution of E2f1 being most important in post-fusion muscle.

  • Maria Paula Zappia
  •  & Maxim V. Frolov

• Article
  17 December 2015 | Open Access

  The transcriptional coregulator PGC-1β controls mitochondrial function and anti-oxidant defence in skeletal muscles

  PGC-1 family transcription factors are important regulators of cellular energy metabolism. Here the authors use tissue-specific, inducible PGC-1β KO mice to show that PGC-1 family members are not functionally redundant and that PGC-1β is required to maintain mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle.

  • Thanuja Gali Ramamoorthy
  • , Gilles Laverny
  •  & Daniel Metzger

• Article | 11 December 2015

  Linc-YY1 promotes myogenic differentiation and muscle regeneration through an interaction with the transcription factor YY1

  Long intervening noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) are an emerging class of molecular regulators with diverse functions. Here the authors identify Linc-YY1, a novel lincRNA transcribed from the noncoding region of the mouse YY1 gene, that binds to YY1 protein and thereby regulates skeletal muscle differentiation and regeneration.

  • Liang Zhou
  • , Kun Sun
  •  & Huating Wang

• Article
  09 December 2015 | Open Access

  TAK1 modulates satellite stem cell homeostasis and skeletal muscle repair

  TAK1 is a MEK kinase family member that activates pro-survival NF-kB signalling but also pro-apoptotic caspase signalling in various cell types. Here the authors show that satellite-cell specific deletion of TAK1 in mice depletes the muscle stem cell pool and thus limits myofibre regeneration after injury.

  • Yuji Ogura
  • , Sajedah M. Hindi
  •  & Ashok Kumar

• Article
  03 December 2015 | Open Access

  Osteoclasts control reactivation of dormant myeloma cells by remodelling the endosteal niche

  Therapy resistant dormant myeloma cells contribute to disease relapse. Here, the authors use intravital microscopy to track the location of these cells and demonstrate that they hone to the endosteal niche within the bone.

  • Michelle A. Lawson
  • , Michelle M. McDonald
  •  & Peter I. Croucher

• Article
  13 October 2015 | Open Access

  Direct optical activation of skeletal muscle fibres efficiently controls muscle contraction and attenuates denervation atrophy

  Nerve damage can lead to skeletal muscle paralysis and atrophy. Here, the authors show that localized photostimulation of mouse calf muscle expressing the light-sensitive channel Channelrhodopsin-2 generates contraction in the absence of neural impulses and prove that this strategy can be used to prevent muscle atrophy.

  • Philippe Magown
  • , Basavaraj Shettar
  •  & Victor F. Rafuse

• Article
  24 August 2015 | Open Access

  Tbx15 controls skeletal muscle fibre-type determination and muscle metabolism

  The transcriptional regulator Tbx15 has a role in organ development. Here Lee et al.show that Tbx15 influences fibre-type determination in murine skeletal muscles, explaining local and systemic metabolic derangements in heterozygous Tbx15 knockout mice.

  • Kevin Y. Lee
  • , Manvendra K. Singh
  •  & C. Ronald Kahn

• Article
  05 August 2015 | Open Access

  Turning terminally differentiated skeletal muscle cells into regenerative progenitors

  Newts can regenerate amputated limbs via unknown mechanism involving dedifferentiation of cells in the stump into progenitors that contribute to the new appendages. Here the authors show that skeletal muscle dedifferentiation in regenerating newt limbs relies on a diverted programmed cell death response by myofibers.

  • Heng Wang
  • , Sara Lööf
  •  & András Simon

• Article | 14 May 2015

  Muscle stem cells contribute to myofibres in sedentary adult mice

  Skeletal muscle satellite cells are muscle stem cells believed to contribute only to regenerating myofibres. Here Keefe et al. show that in adult sedentary mice satellite cells continue to fuse with uninjured myofibres, but they are not globally required for the maintenance of aging muscles.

  • Alexandra C. Keefe
  • , Jennifer A. Lawson
  •  & Gabrielle Kardon