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Cited by 65Muscle Physiology and DisordersMeat and Animal Product QualityAdipose Tissue and Metabolism

Skeletal Muscles Do Not Undergo Apoptosis During Either Atrophy or Programmed Cell Death-Revisiting the Myonuclear Domain Hypothesis

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Schwartz, Lawrence M.·2019·Frontiers in Physiology
DOI 10.3389/fphys.2018.01887PMC PMC6356110
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Abstract

Skeletal muscles are the largest cells in the body and one of the few syncytial ones. There is a longstanding belief that a given nucleus controls a defined volume of cytoplasm, so when a muscle grows (hypertrophy) or shrinks (atrophy), the number of myonuclei change accordingly. This phenomenon is known as the “myonuclear domain hypothesis”. There is general agreement that hypertrophy is accompanied by the addition of new nuclei from stem cells to help the muscle meet the enhanced synthetic demands of a larger cell. However, there is considerable controversy regarding the fate of pre-existing nuclei during atrophy. Many researchers have reported that atrophy is accompanied by the dramatic loss of myonuclei via apoptosis. However, since there are many different non-muscle cell populations that reside within the tissue, these experiments cannot easily distinguish true myonuclei from those of neighboring mononuclear cells. Recently, two independent models, one from rodents and the other from insects, have demonstrated that nuclei are not lost from skeletal muscle fibers when they undergo either atrophy or programmed cell death. These and other data argue against the myonuclear domain hypothesis and suggest that once a nucleus has been acquired by a muscle fiber it persists.

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  • The foundational architecture built during the training phase, specifically the expanded myonuclear domain and physical nucleolar templates, exhibits remarkable persistence after detraining.

    “However, the foundational architecture built during the training phase, specifically the expanded myonuclear domain and physical nucleolar templates, exhibits remarkable persistence [114].”

    From Ribosome Biogenesis as a Putative Bottleneck to Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: Mechanisms, Human Evidence, and Practical Modulators (2026) · cites this paper as [114]

    The Conclusions report that newly acquired myonuclei persisted for months after the hypertrophic stimulus was removed, supporting persistence of part of the training-related architecture. They also say muscle volume returned to baseline; they do not establish persistence of an expanded myonuclear domain or mention physical nucleolar templates. The reported persistence concerns nuclei, not those two specified structures. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Schwartz, L. M.
Affiliations
University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
Corresponding author
Schwartz, Lawrence M.
ORCID
Schwartz, Lawrence M.
Venue
Frontiers in Physiology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2019-01-25
Volume
9
Pages
1887-1887
ISSN
1664-042X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fphys.2018.01887
PMC
PMC6356110
OpenAlex
W2915048318
Cited by
65
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6
FWCI
0.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Physiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Meat and Animal Product Quality
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
Keywords
skeletal muscle atrophy, apoptosis, programmed cell death, myonuclei, myonuclear domain, muscle hypertrophy, muscle stem cells

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