Ated muscles (58625 myofibres of donor origin, 83645 donor-derived myonuclei), with a minority of donor-derived nuclei outside the basal lamina of donor-derived myofibres (1166) (Figure 4B, C-III,Hypertrophic Effect of Grafted Donor MyofibreFigure 4. A donor fibre is required for the hypertrophic effect. BaCl2-injured muscles were grafted 3 days later with single fibres (n = 8) (A2I), satellite cells (n = 6) (A2II), or DMEM (n = 6) (A2IV); as a control, irradiated muscles were grafted 3 days later with satellite cells (n = 6) (A2III). As fibres and satellite cells were obtained from b-actin-Cre:R26NZG donor mice (n = 2), their in vivo survival and integration in the recipient host muscles outside myofibres could also be determined. This was quantified alongside the presence of donor-derived dystrophin positive fibres (B). As shown by representative pictures, X-gal positive donor-derived nuclei were found in both BaCl2-injured (II) and irradiated (III) cell-grafted muscles, inside or nearby the donor-derived dystrophin positive myofibres (C and D respectively). Weights of muscles grafted with fibres (I) were significantly Title Loaded From File greater than muscles injected with BaCl2 and DMEM (IV) or irradiated and cell grafted host muscles (III) (E). This increase in size was mirrored by the increased CSA (F), whilst the total number of fibres was not significantly different from the control (IV) (G). Size bar = 100 mm. *p,0.05; **p,0.01; ***p,0.0001. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054599.gHypertrophic Effect of Grafted Donor Myofibreundergoing some degeneration and regeneration [52?4], are also susceptible to this effect. Interestingly, this hypertrophic effect cannot be recapitulated by satellite cells freshly removed from their niche. We speculate that either the donor fibre itself, or components of the satellite cell niche on the donor fibre [45], can signal to the host muscle to evoke its hypertrophy. This is probably a rapid response triggered by the grafting of the fibre, as it occurs even when there is no evidence of survival of either the donor fibre, or the progeny of its satellite cells, 4 weeks after grafting. This could happen in many ways. The crucial pathway that regulates muscle hypertrophy is initiated by Title Loaded From File binding of IGF1 to the IGF receptor, which then induces activation of Akt/mTOR: this pathway not only leads to inhibition of proteolytic degradation, but also to stimulation of new protein synthesis [55]. However, it has been shown that hypertrophy through Akt/ mTOR activation can also be induced independently of activation of IGF receptor: for example, during muscle regeneration, overexpression of Wnt7a, which is a member of the Wnt gene family [56], generates increased number of larger myofibres, inducing expansion of satellite cells, which, when quiescent, express the Wnt7a receptor [57]. This stimulation of hypertrophic myofibre growth is triggered even with minimal induction of regeneration after injection of recombinant Wnt7a factor, through a non-canonical anabolic signalling pathway [58]. Our results show that, even in the presence of a minimal injury created by the needle during single fibre engraftment, the hypertrophic effect is initiated by the donor fibre, but does not occur if medium without a fibre is injected. In addition, the pathway controlling muscle regeneration could be differentially regulated in dystrophic compared to non-dystrophic muscles. We therefore hypothesize that a donor wild type fibre exposes the dystrophic host.Ated muscles (58625 myofibres of donor origin, 83645 donor-derived myonuclei), with a minority of donor-derived nuclei outside the basal lamina of donor-derived myofibres (1166) (Figure 4B, C-III,Hypertrophic Effect of Grafted Donor MyofibreFigure 4. A donor fibre is required for the hypertrophic effect. BaCl2-injured muscles were grafted 3 days later with single fibres (n = 8) (A2I), satellite cells (n = 6) (A2II), or DMEM (n = 6) (A2IV); as a control, irradiated muscles were grafted 3 days later with satellite cells (n = 6) (A2III). As fibres and satellite cells were obtained from b-actin-Cre:R26NZG donor mice (n = 2), their in vivo survival and integration in the recipient host muscles outside myofibres could also be determined. This was quantified alongside the presence of donor-derived dystrophin positive fibres (B). As shown by representative pictures, X-gal positive donor-derived nuclei were found in both BaCl2-injured (II) and irradiated (III) cell-grafted muscles, inside or nearby the donor-derived dystrophin positive myofibres (C and D respectively). Weights of muscles grafted with fibres (I) were significantly greater than muscles injected with BaCl2 and DMEM (IV) or irradiated and cell grafted host muscles (III) (E). This increase in size was mirrored by the increased CSA (F), whilst the total number of fibres was not significantly different from the control (IV) (G). Size bar = 100 mm. *p,0.05; **p,0.01; ***p,0.0001. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054599.gHypertrophic Effect of Grafted Donor Myofibreundergoing some degeneration and regeneration [52?4], are also susceptible to this effect. Interestingly, this hypertrophic effect cannot be recapitulated by satellite cells freshly removed from their niche. We speculate that either the donor fibre itself, or components of the satellite cell niche on the donor fibre [45], can signal to the host muscle to evoke its hypertrophy. This is probably a rapid response triggered by the grafting of the fibre, as it occurs even when there is no evidence of survival of either the donor fibre, or the progeny of its satellite cells, 4 weeks after grafting. This could happen in many ways. The crucial pathway that regulates muscle hypertrophy is initiated by binding of IGF1 to the IGF receptor, which then induces activation of Akt/mTOR: this pathway not only leads to inhibition of proteolytic degradation, but also to stimulation of new protein synthesis [55]. However, it has been shown that hypertrophy through Akt/ mTOR activation can also be induced independently of activation of IGF receptor: for example, during muscle regeneration, overexpression of Wnt7a, which is a member of the Wnt gene family [56], generates increased number of larger myofibres, inducing expansion of satellite cells, which, when quiescent, express the Wnt7a receptor [57]. This stimulation of hypertrophic myofibre growth is triggered even with minimal induction of regeneration after injection of recombinant Wnt7a factor, through a non-canonical anabolic signalling pathway [58]. Our results show that, even in the presence of a minimal injury created by the needle during single fibre engraftment, the hypertrophic effect is initiated by the donor fibre, but does not occur if medium without a fibre is injected. In addition, the pathway controlling muscle regeneration could be differentially regulated in dystrophic compared to non-dystrophic muscles. We therefore hypothesize that a donor wild type fibre exposes the dystrophic host.