Metalloproteinase in the context of "Myoblasts"

Bacillus cereus is a Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium commonly found in soil, food, and marine sponges. The specific name, cereus, meaning "waxy" in Latin, refers to the appearance of colonies grown on blood agar. Some strains are harmful to humans and cause foodborne illness due to their spore-forming nature, while other strains can be beneficial as probiotics for animals, and even exhibit mutualism with certain plants. B. cereus bacteria may be aerobes or facultative anaerobes, and like other members of the genus Bacillus, can produce protective endospores. They have a wide range of virulence factors, including phospholipase C, cereulide, sphingomyelinase, metalloproteases, and cytotoxin K, many of which are regulated via quorum sensing. B. cereus strains exhibit flagellar motility.

The Bacillus cereus group comprises seven closely related species: B. cereus sensu stricto (referred to herein as B. cereus), B. anthracis, B. thuringiensis, B. mycoides, B. pseudomycoides, and B. cytotoxicus; or as six species in a Bacillus cereus sensu lato: B. weihenstephanensis, B. mycoides, B. pseudomycoides, B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, and B. anthracis. A phylogenomic analysis combined with average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis revealed that the B. anthracis species also includes strains annotated as B. cereus and B. thuringiensis.

Myogenesis is the formation of skeletal muscular tissue, particularly during embryonic development.Muscle fibers generally form through the fusion of precursor myoblasts into multinucleated fibers called myotubes. In the early development of an embryo, myoblasts can either proliferate, or differentiate into a myotube. What controls this choice in vivo is generally unclear. If placed in cell culture, most myoblasts will proliferate if enough fibroblast growth factor (FGF) or another growth factor is present in the medium surrounding the cells. When the growth factor runs out, the myoblasts cease division and undergo terminal differentiation into myotubes.

Myoblast differentiation proceeds in stages. The first stage involves cell cycle exit and the commencement of expression of certain genes. The second stage of differentiation involves the alignment of the myoblasts with one another. Studies have shown that even rat and chick myoblasts can recognise and align with one another, suggesting evolutionary conservation of the mechanisms involved. The third stage is the actual cell fusion itself. In this stage, the presence of calcium ions is critical. Fusion in humans is aided by a set of metalloproteinases coded for by the ADAM12 gene, and a variety of other proteins. Fusion involves recruitment of actin to the plasma membrane, followed by close apposition and creation of a pore that subsequently rapidly widens.