Page 11 - Abstract Booklet-TRiO 2020 Virtual Explorations

INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT

Group Members

Alexis Daijah
Mitchell McCrary

Skeletal Muscle Differentiation

INTRODUCTION:

Skeletal muscle accounts for almost half of our total body mass and receives impulses from neurons that
trigger contractions to allow movement. There is currently a search for more efficient ways to treat

skeletal muscle injury, which is the most common sports-related injury. This research analyzed the
differentiation of skeletal muscle or myogenesis with the transcription of MyoD by promoter activation

and compared the process to the duration of differentiation in neurons. This study hypothesized that gene

transcription by promoter activation can accurately measure cell differentiation and that neurons require
less time to differentiate.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES:

Using an existing myogenic cell line, MyoD was tracked by the expression of promoter mCherry and
observed with a fluorescence microscope. Additionally, using an existing neural cell line, the lengths of

time that both lineages underwent differentiation were compared.