Stem cells from umbilical cord blood differentiate into myotubes and express dystrophin <i>in vitro</i> only after exposure to <i>in vivo</i> muscle environment

Abstract

These results indicate that chemical factors and cell-to-cell contact provided by in vitro conditions were not enough to trigger the differentiation of stem cells into muscle cells. Nevertheless, we showed that the HUCB-derived stem cells were capable of acquiring a muscle phenotype after exposure to an in vivo muscle environment, which was required to activate the differentiation programme.