Figure 2

Rac1 enhances myogenic cell fusion. Expression plasmids encoding GFP-Rac1 (WT, wild type; CA, constitutively active form; DN, dominant negative form) were transfected into Ric10 cells under the differentiation-inducing condition. (A) The cells were cultured for 24 h, fixed and subjected to immunostaining for GFP (green) and MyHC (red). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Images were obtained by phase contrast and epifluorescence microscopy. MS, myosheet. Scale bar, 100 μm. (B) Histograms represent the distribution of myogenic cells with different numbers of nuclei in cells expressing GFP-Rac1. Mononucleated cells were classified to two subpopulations: one expressing MyHC (MyHC+) and the other not (MyHC-). Averages and standard deviations (n = 3) are shown.