Yamane, Akira, Satonari Akutsu, Thomas G. H. Diekwisch, and Ryoichi Matsuda. Satellite cells and utrophin are not directly correlated with the degree of skeletal muscle damage in mdx mice. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 289: C42-C48, 2005. First published February 9, 2005 doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00577.2004.-To determine whether muscle satellite cells and utrophin are correlated with the degree of damage in mdx skeletal muscles, we measured the area of the degenerative region as an indicator of myofiber degeneration in the masseter, gastrocnemius, soleus, and diaphragm muscles of mdx mice. Furthermore, we analyzed the expression levels of the paired box homeotic gene 7 (pax7), m-cadherin (the makers of muscle satellite cells), and utrophin mRNA. We also investigated the immunolocalization of m-cadherin and utrophin proteins in the muscles of normal C57BL/10J (B10) and mdx mice. The expression level of pax7 mRNA and the percentage of m-cadherin-positive cells among the total number of cell nuclei in the muscle tissues in all four muscles studied were greater in the mdx mice than in the B10 mice. However, there was no significant correlation between muscle damage and expression level for pax7 mRNA (R ϭ Ϫ0.140), nor was there a correlation between muscle damage and the percentage of satellite cells among the total number of cell nuclei (R ϭ Ϫ0.411) in the mdx mice. The expression level of utrophin mRNA and the intensity of immunostaining for utrophin in all four muscles studied were greater in the mdx mice than in the B10 mice. However, there also was not a significant correlation between muscle damage and expression level of utrophin mRNA (R ϭ 0.231) in the mdx mice, although upregulated utrophin was incorporated into the sarcolemma. These results suggest that satellite cells and utrophin are not directly correlated with the degree of skeletal muscle damage in mdx mice. dystrophy; pax7; m-cadherin; dystrophin-related proteins THE X CHROMOSOME-LINKED MUSCULAR dystrophic mdx mouse lacks the sarcolemmal protein dystrophin and represents a genetic homolog of human Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dystrophin is a 427-kDa cytoskeletal protein that is expressed in the sarcolemma (the membrane structure of the myofiber) and contributes to the stability of the sarcolemma. Lack of dystrophin causes myofiber degeneration caused by membrane damage, Ca 2ϩ overuptake by muscle cells, muscle overcontraction, and activation of intracellular proteinase (2, 8). The damage to myofibers varies among the muscles of the mdx mouse; the mdx diaphragm muscle is damaged more severely by dystrophy than are the other muscles (10, 27), whereas craniofacial muscles such as the masseter and extraocular muscles are less damaged (16,20). However, the mechanism underlying differences in the degree of myofiber damage among mdx skeletal muscles is unclear.Muscle satellite cells are mononucleated, quiescent stem cells that reside between the sarcolemma and the basal lamina of adult myofibers (4, 13). In response to stimuli such as mechanical loading, unloading, d...