Early posthatch feeding stimulates satellite cell proliferation and skeletal muscle growth in turkey poults.

The effect of early posthatch feeding on skeletal muscle growth and satellite cell myogenesis was studied in turkey poults. Poults were either fed immediately posthatch or food-deprived for the first 48 h and then refed for the rest of the experiment. Body and breast muscle weights were lower in the starved poults than in fed controls throughout the experiment (P < 0.05). Cultures of breast muscle satellite cells revealed significantly higher DNA synthesis in the fed group than in the starved group as early as d 1 (P < 0.05). These levels continued to rise, reaching approximately 500-fold those of feed-deprived poults on d 4. In the latter group, thymidine incorporation peaked only on d 6, and then declined. Thereafter, it decreased to the same levels as those in the fed group. Satellite cell number per gram muscle increased until d 4, and was higher in the fed group than in the starved group (P < 0.05). Pax7 levels in cell cultures derived from the fed group were markedly higher than in the starved group on d 2 (P < 0.05). Myogenin levels in both culture and muscle were higher in the fed than in the starved groups until d 4 (P < 0.05). Phosphorylation of the survival factor Akt and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 levels were higher in cells derived from the fed group relative to those from the starved group 48 h posthatch (P < 0.05). Similarly, Akt phosphorylation and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels were significantly higher in the muscles of the fed group (P < 0.05). Together, these results suggest that immediate posthatch feeding of poults is critical for satellite cell survival and myogenesis probably via IGF-I.