Intercellular adhesion in developing and adult skeletal muscle: Analysis of M-cadherin

M-cadherin is a member of the family of calcium-dependent intercellular adhesion molecules, the cadherins. These are involved in the establishment of intercellular junctions and are associated with morphogenetic events. This article focusses on M-cadherin during skeletal muscle development emphasizing its pattern of expression, its interaction with catenins and cytoskeletal elements, and functional aspects. So far, expression and functional studies imply that M-cadherin plays a role during fusion of myoblasts to myotubes. Based on data from different groups, it is discussed whether M-cadherin is a marker for the complete satellite cell pool in vivo which would be helpful for studies of both, physiological and pathophysiological situations of skeletal muscle in development and in the adult. Finally, we describe the genomic structure of the murine M-cadherin gene which is the basis for further functional and regulatory studies in vivo.