Commitment, fusion and biochemical differentiation of a myogenic cell line in the absence of DNA synthesis

Abstract L 6 E 9 rat myoblasts derived from the L 6 cell line can be induced to differentiate to a very high percentage by manipulating the culture conditions. Under standard differentiating conditions, L 6 E 9 cells divide an average of 2.5 times before differentiating and >99% of them incorporate 3 H-TdR before fusing. By inhibiting DNA replication by a variety of means, data have been obtained which demonstrate that this DNa synthesis is not required to switch from growth to differentiation. After every cell division, L 6 E 9 cells have the option either to fuse or to proliferate without intervening DNA synthesis. Cell cloning and DNA labeling experiments show a direct correlation between the time of culture in differentiating medium and a progressive loss of proliferative capacity of mononucleated L 6 E 9 cells, demonstrating that these cells become irreversibly committed to differentiation and withdraw from the cell cycle prior to and not as a consequence of cell fusion. The commitment step occurs during the G1 phase prior to fusion. This G1 phase has a latent period during which no irreversible step toward differentiation occurs and the cells remain ambivalent toward growth or differentiation. Under proper conditions, this period is followed by an irreversible commitment toward differentiation and a loss of proliferative capacity. The kinetics of this commitment step strongly suggest that L 6 E 9 cells become irreversibly committed in a stochastic manner. Once the cells have become committed, with or without DNA synthesis, they will fuse to form myotubes and biochemically differentiate in a deterministic fashion. The data presented are consistent with a stochastic model of differentiation for L 6 E 9 cells and demonstrate that the switch from a proliferating to a differentiating genetic program can occur in the absence of DNA synthesis.