The effects of pre- and posttransplantation exercise on satellite cell activation and the regeneration of skeletal muscle transplants: a morphometric and autoradiographic study in mice.

The effects of pre- and posttransplantation exercise on satellite cell activation, and the eventual regeneration of skeletal muscle transplants, were studied histologically, morphometrically and autoradiographically. It was found that satellite cells in these transplants were synthesising DNA 30 h after transplantation, and the transplants appeared to be revascularising at 60 h after surgery. Respectively, this was 18 and 12 h earlier than found in previous studies on nonexercising muscle using the same techniques. The morphometric analysis showed hypertrophy of the muscle fibres of the exercised transplants when compared with controls, and also an increase in the capillarity of the exercised transplants.