Fusion between myogenic cells in vivo: an ultrastructural study in regenerating murine skeletal muscle.

Fusion of myogenic cells in adult murine skeletal muscle regenerating in vivo was examined at the ultrastructural level. Fusion of myoblast to myoblast, myoblast to myotube, and myotube to myotube was observed by 4 to 5 days after injury. Fusion between myogenic cells (myoblasts or myotubes) lacking a definitive glycocalyx or external lamina (basal lamina) occurred at multiple sites. It was defined by zones of cytoplasmic confluence between apposed cells at sites where contiguous segments of the cell membranes were interrupted while their edges had united resulting in linear continuity; vesicles of varying dimensions were frequent in these areas of fusion. Myoblasts were seen invaginating the surface of myofibres and again vesicles were seen in abundance in such regions. Cilia were often observed at this junctional zone suggesting that they might play a role in fusion. In the one example of probable fusion between a myotube and a myofibre, only a single area of cytoplasmic continuity was apparent.