Necdin enhances muscle reconstitution of dystrophic muscle by mesoangioblast cells

Improving stem cell therapy is a major goal for the treatment of muscle diseases, where physiological muscle regeneration is progressively exhausted. Mesoangioblasts are vessel-associated stem cells that appear to be the most promising cell type for the cell therapy for muscular dystrophies because of their significant contribution to restoration of muscle structure and function in different muscular dystrophy model. Here we report that MAGE protein Necdin enhances muscle differentiation and regeneration by mesoangioblasts. Indeed, when Necdin is constitutively overexpressed, it accelerates their differentiation and fusion in vitro and it increases their efficacy to restore dystrophic phenotype of α-sarcoglycan mutant mouse. Moreover, Necdin confers a enhanced survival ability when mesoangioblasts are exposed to cytotoxic stimuli that mimic inflammatory dystrophic environment. Taken together, these data demonstrate the pivotal role of Necdin in muscle reconstitution from which we could take advantage to boost therapeutic applications of mesoangioblasts.