Myotube formation in skeletal muscle regeneration.

Muscle fibre regeneration in the latissimus dorsi of adult rats has been studied by light and electron microscopy. Both 'continuous' and 'discontinuous' modes of regeneration occur. In 'continuous' regeneration sarcoplasmic buds grow from the damaged muscle fibres, their nuclei apparently originating from the healthy portion of the muscle fibre. In 'discontinuous' regeneration mononucleated cells accumulate inside intact but vacated, sarcolemmal tubes. They differentiate into myofibril-containing myoblasts which later fuse. 'Continuous' regeneration occurs when the sarcolemmal sheaths are disrupted; 'discontinuous' regeneration when the sarcolemmal sheaths remain intact.