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Research Overview

Muscles consist of muscle cells and fibrils which facilitate motion and locomotion. During the development of the head and face, muscles are surrounded by pharyngeal endoderm, surface ectoderm, and neural crest cells, contributing to the complex origins and functions of craniofacial muscles, including the tongue. The tongue is a prominent orofacial muscle that originates from the occipital somites, while other tissues of the tongue are derived from the first, second, third, and fourth branchial arches. Together, the complex origins of craniofacial muscles explain in part the unique features, morphologies, and molecular make-up of craniofacial muscles.

Figure: The tongue is a craniofacial muscle containing prominent bundles of striated muscles under a surface of epithelium and connective tissues (left). A higher magnification micrograph illustrates multinucleated striated muscle fibers with cross striations (A, I, and Z bands) and nuclei just beneath the sarcolemma (Center).

Our craniofacial muscle project is based on a collaboration with Drs. Akira Yamane and Tadayoshi Fukui at Tsurumi University. Here in Illinois, Professor Robert Druzinsky at Governors State University is part of this project.

Fukui, T., Suga, T., Iida, R.-H., Morito, M., Luan, X., Diekwisch, T.G.H., Nakamura, Y., and Yamane, A. (2010). BMP-2 regulates the formation of oral sulcus in mouse tongue by altering the balance between TIMP-1 and MMP-13. Anat. Rec. Hoboken 293, 1408-1415.

Suga, T., Fukui, T., Shinohara, A., Luan, X., Diekwisch, T.G.H., Morito, M., and Yamane, A. (2007). BMP2, BMP4, and their receptors are expressed in the differentiating muscle tissues of mouse embryonic tongue. Cell Tissue Res. 329, 103-117.

Yamane, A., Akutso, S., Diekwisch, T.G.H., and Matsuda, R. (2005). Satellite cells and utrophin are not directly correlated with the degree of skeletal muscle damages in mdx mice. Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. Yamane, A., Amano, O., Urushiyama, T., Nagata, J., Akutsu, S., Fujui, T., and Diekwisch, T.G.H. (2004).

Exogenous hepatocyte growth factor inhibits myoblast differentiation by inducing myf5 expression and suppressing myoD expression in an organ culture system of embryonic mouse tongue. Eur. J. Oral Sci. 112, 1-5.

Urushiyama, T., Akutsu, S., Miyazaki, J-I., Fukui, T., Diekwisch, T.G.H., and Yamane, A. (2004). Change from a hard to soft diet alters the expression of insulin-like growth factors, their receptors, and binding proteins in association with atrophy in adult mouse masseter muscle. Cell & Tiss. 315, 97-105.

Yamane, A., Urushiyama, T., and Diekwisch, T.G.H. (2002). Roles of insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins in the differentiation of mouse tongue myoblasts. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 46, 807-816.