Isolation and biological characteristics of beijing Fatty chicken skeletal muscle satellite cells.

Skeletal muscle satellite cells, a postulated multipotential stem cell population, play an essential role in the postnatal replenishment of skeletal muscles. In the present research, the skeletal muscle satellite cells were isolated from the pectorals of 15-day-old Beijing Fatty Chicken embryos using combined enzymatic digestion of 0.1% collagenase 1 and 0.25% trypsin. Myogenic markers such as MyoD, Pax7 and demin were detected, indicating their skeletal muscle satellite cell identity. Karyotype analysis showed that these in vitro cultured cells were genetically stable. Being exposed to bone morphogen and adipogenic factors, it was proved that they differentiated into osteocytes and adipocytes correspondingly.