The Role of CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein Beta (C/EBPβ) in Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells after Injury and in Cancer Cachexia

CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Proteins are a family of six bZIP transcription factors. C/EBPβ, the second member cloned, has been implicated in adipogenesis and osteogenesis, but the role of C/EBPβ in myogenesis remained undetermined. In adults, muscle-resident stem cells, called satellite cells (SCs), have the greatest propensity to regenerate the skeletal muscle. We found that C/EBPβ is expressed in SCs, and its expression progressively declines upon differentiation. Forcing the expression of C/EBPβ in myoblasts enhanced the expression of the SC marker Pax7, and repressed MyoD and the myogenic genes expression, resulting in the inhibition of myogenesis. Using a SC-specific conditional knockout (cKO) mouse model, we found that cKO myoblasts have decreased expression of Pax7, and we identified Pax7 as a direct target of C/EBPβ action. In vivo, excision of C/EBPβ resulted in muscle hypertrophy at the juvenile age, and adult cKO animals had enhanced muscle regeneration following BaCl2 muscle injury. Moreover, the number of Pax7+ cells in cKO animals decreased following BaCl2 injury. Upon performing a second injury into cKO animals, we demonstrate a decreased muscle fiber size and an exacerbation of the percentage number of SCs. While cKO animals repaired well a BaCl2 injury, regeneration failed in cKO animals following cardiotoxin (CTX) injury. We demonstrate that IL-1β expression is enhanced in muscle after CTX injury when compared to BaCl2, and we found that IL-1β can stimulate the expression of C/EBPβ in myoblasts. Ectopic C/EBPβ expression can protect myoblasts from apoptosis when triggered with thapsigargin, whereas cKO myoblasts are more sensitive to apoptosis. Using cancer cachexia as a model of chronic inflammation, we found that the expression of C/EBPβ is stimulated in the SCs of cachectic animals, and this correlated with a decrease in regenerative capacity. The severity of muscle wasting was not improved in cKO animals, but rather cKO SCs were lost to apoptosis. Together, this study establishes a protective role for C/EBPβ in muscle SCs in conditions of inflammation