Slowing down differentiation of engrafted human myoblasts into immunodeficient mice correlates with increased proliferation and migration.

We have used a model of xenotransplantation in which human myoblasts were transplanted intramuscularly into immunodeficient Rag2(-/-)γC(-/-) mice, in order to investigate the kinetics of proliferation and differentiation of the transplanted cells. After injection, most of the human myoblasts had already differentiated by day 5. This differentiation correlated with reduction in proliferation and limited migration of the donor cells within the regenerating muscle. These results suggest that the precocious differentiation, already detected at 3 days postinjection, is a limiting factor for both the migration from the injection site and the participation of the donor cells to muscle regeneration. When we stimulated in vivo proliferation of human myoblasts, transplanting them in a serum-containing medium, we observed 5 days post-transplantation a delay of myogenic differentiation and an increase in cell numbers, which colonized a much larger area within the recipient's muscle. Importantly, these myoblasts maintained their ability to differentiate, since we found higher numbers of myofibers seen 1 month postengraftment, as compared to controls. Conceptually, these data suggest that in experimental myoblast transplantation, any intervention upon the donor cells and/or the recipient's microenvironment aimed at enhancing proliferation and migration should be done before differentiation of the implanted cells, e.g., day 3 postengraftment.