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Abstract
Background. Myoblast transplantation is a potential therapeutic approach for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. One limiting problem is that the major part of the transplanted cells die few days following the graft. We have demonstrated that the myoblast treatment with Tubulyzine reduces cell death following transplantation improving thus the graft success. Method. In vitro, apoptosis was evaluated by labelling cells with annexin V followed by FACS analysis. In vivo the graft success was measured by the thymidine quantity labelled and the amount of β-galactosidase fibers in the transplanted cell DNA. Results. In vitro, Tubulyzine (5 μM) reduces the staurosporin (1 μM) induced apoptosis of myoblasts. In vivo, pre-incubation and the co-injection of myoblasts in presence of Tubulyzine reduce cell death and improve cell survival of injected myoblasts. Conclusion. Tubulyzine can be used as a survival factor in vivo to improve myoblast transplantation.
