Abstract
Adult mammalian skeletal muscles possess a stem cell population, called muscle satellite cells. Satellite cells mainly contribute to restoring damaged or diseased muscles. The migration of satellite cells plays an important role in muscle regeneration, and it has been traditionally thought that satellite cell migration is regulated by lamellipodial/filopodial formation. In addition, it has recently been thought that blebbing/amoeboid formation plays an important role in satellite cell migration. On the other hand, the method/mechanism(s) of the migration of satellite cells located within skeletal muscles in vivo has barely been elucidated. However, because, in recent years, in vivo real-time imaging of satellite cell migration in skeletal muscles has been reported, it is expected to markedly expand our understanding of satellite cell migration in vivo. This review will focus on the regulatory mechanism of satellite cell migration in vitro and new insights into in vivo satellite cell mobility using real-time imaging.
