Gene expression of CD56positive and CD56negative human muscle stem cells from normal and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy muscles

In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), the absence of the subsarcolemmal dystrophin protein leads to repeated myofiber damages inducing cycles of muscle regeneration that is driven by muscle stem cells (MuSCs). With time, MuSC regenerative capacities are overwhelmed, leading to fibrosis and muscle atrophy. Whether MuSCs from DMD muscle have intrinsic alterations or are primed by their degenerative/regenerative environment is still debated. We investigated gene expression in human using primary MuSCs derived from DMD or healthy muscles. Cells were isolated from the muscle and bulk expanded then purified as CD56positive cells (CD56 is a myogenic marker that characterizes the myogenic nature of the cells). Human MuSCs loose the expression of the CD56 with time. We analyzed gene expression by CD56positive and CD56negative cells originating from the same initial CD56positive MuSC population. CD56pos Muscle Stem Cells from healthy control (HC-MuSC) and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DM-MuSC) were cultured in growth medium and passaged until about 50% of the cells have lost CD56 expression. Then the cell culturess were sorted by magnetic cell sorting to obtain CD56positive cells and CD56negative cells, that were analyzed for their gene expression. n=3.