Switch NFix developmental myogenesis.

During development, skeletal muscles adapt to stage-specific functional and metabolic challenges by switching the expression of specific subset of genes. The mechanism that governs these changes is still enigmatic. In a recent issue of Cell, Messina and coworkers shed light on this issue through the identification of a transcription factor--NFix--that coordinates the switch in gene expression at the transition from embryonic to fetal myoblasts. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.