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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2006 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Muscle Nerve. 2005 Oct;32(4):492–499. doi: 10.1002/mus.20383

Figure 4. TIMP-2 might have a role in delaying differentiation of the myoblasts into myotubes.

Figure 4

To determine the role of TIMP-2 in myogenesis, C2C12 myoblasts were transfected with TIMP-2 in differentiation media (DMEM, 2% horse serum). Three days after transfection, cells were analyzed immunocytochemically for MyoD, a marker for myogenic commitment, and myogenin, a marker for differentiated myotubes. In contrast to vector transfected GFP-positive cells which express MyoD (c) and myogenin (d), TIMP-2 transfected GFP-positive cells only express MyoD (a). Myogenin expression was not detected in any TIMP-2 transfected GFP- positive cell (b). Untransfected cells served as a control (e, f). Phase contrast micrographs (g, h) are of untransfected cells. Since myogenin marks a more differentiated phase of myotube this suggests that TIMP-2 over-expression has a role in delaying differentiation. Scale bar = 50 μm.