• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, August 8, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Genetics

Placenta in females, muscle mass in males: The dual heritage of a virus

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
September 3, 2016
in Genetics
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
Cross section of mouse muscle
Cross section of mouse muscle (in blue: labeling of nuclei; in green: labeling of muscle fiber membranes). Normal male mice display larger muscle fibers than those seen in mutant, syncytin knock-out mice. Credit: François Redelsperger

It is known that genes inherited from ancient retroviruses are essential to the placenta in mammals, a finding to which scientists in the Laboratoire Physiologie et Pathologie Moleacuteculaires des Retrovirus Endogenes et Infectieux (CNRS/Universite Paris-Sud) contributed. Today, the same scientists reveal a new chapter in this story: these genes of viral origin may also be responsible for the more developed muscle mass seen in males. Their findings are published on 2 September 2016 in PLOS Genetics.

Retroviruses carry proteins on their surface that are able to mediate fusion of their envelope with the membrane of a target cell. Once released inside that cell, their genetic material becomes integrated in the host’s chromosomes. In the rare cases where the infected cell is involved in reproduction, the viral genes may be transmitted to progeny. Thus nearly 8% of the mammalian genome is made up of vestiges of retroviruses, or “endogenous” retroviruses. Most of them are inactive, but some remain capable of producing proteins: this is the case of syncytins, proteins that are present in all mammals and encoded by genes inherited from retroviruses “captured” by their ancestors. A little more than five years ago, and thanks to inactivation of these genes in mice, the team led by Thierry Heidmann demonstrated that syncytins contribute to formation of the placenta. Because of their ancestral ability to mediate cell-cell fusion they give rise to the syncytiotrophoblast, a tissue formed by the fusion of a large number of cells derived from the embryo, at the fetomaternal interface.

Using the same mice, the team has revealed a “collateral” and unexpected effect of these proteins: they endow males with more muscle mass than females. Like the syncytiotrophoblast, muscle mass develops from fused stem cells. In the genetically-modified male mice, these fibers were 20% smaller and displayed 20% fewer nuclei than in standard males; they were then similar to those seen in females, as was their total muscle mass. It therefore appears that the inactivation of syncytins leads to a fusion deficit during muscle growth, but only in males. The scientists observed the same phenomenon in the case of muscle regeneration following a lesion: the male mice incapable of producing syncytins experienced less effective regeneration than the other males, but it was comparable to that seen in females. Furthermore, the regenerating muscle fibers produced syncytin – once again, only in males.

If this discovery were to be confirmed in other mammals, it might account for the muscle dimorphism observed between males and females, a difference that is not seen so systematically in egg laying animals. By cultivating muscle stem cells from different mammalian species (mouse, sheep, dog, human), the scientists have advanced some way along the path: they indeed showed that syncytins contributed to the formation of muscle fibers in all the species tested. It is now necessary to demonstrate whether, in these species as well, the action of syncytins is also male-specific.

###

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Genetics: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1006289

Citation: Redelsperger F, Raddi N, Bacquin A, Vernochet C, Mariot V, Gache V, et al. (2016) Genetic Evidence That Captured Retroviral Envelope syncytins Contribute to Myoblast Fusion and Muscle Sexual Dimorphism in Mice. PLoS Genet 12(9): e1006289. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006289

Funding: This work was supported by the CNRS and by grants to TH from the Ligue Nationale contre Le Cancer (Equipe Labellisée, France), the ANR (Retro-Placenta, France), and the Association Française contre les Myopathies (AFM-Téléthon, France). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Media Contact

Shane Alsop
[email protected]
44-012-234-42823

Home

The post Placenta in females, muscle mass in males: The dual heritage of a virus appeared first on Scienmag.

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

IMAGE

Amino acid recycling in cells: Autophagy helps cells adapt to changing conditions

December 10, 2020
IMAGE

Cataloging nature’s hidden arsenal: Viruses that infect bacteria

December 10, 2020

Within a hair’s breadth–forensic identification of single dyed hair strand now possible

December 9, 2020

£1m step closer to understanding genetic diseases

December 9, 2020
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    76 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    61 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Modified DASH Diet Reduces Blood Sugar Levels in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes, Clinical Trial Finds

    51 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 13
  • Predicting Colorectal Cancer Using Lifestyle Factors

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Japan Unveils Its First Fully Domestically Developed Quantum Computer

New Phase II Trial Targets Advanced Follicular Lymphoma

Eco-Friendly ZIF-7 Carbon for Sensitive Rhodamine B Detection

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.