人类胚胎来源成肌细胞的培养和鉴定

背景：人类胚胎骨骼肌含有成肌细胞,其在体外条件下的培养及在体外能否融合形成肌管,以及表达的相应的标志物,目前尚不明确。目的：验证源于人类胚胎骨骼肌的成肌细胞在体外条件下的培养条件,能否在体外融合形成肌管,能否表达神经细胞的标志物。方法：采用组织块培养法对人类胚胎肌肉来源的成肌细胞进行原代培养,以免疫细胞化学染色检测培养的细胞肌肉细胞标志物desmin、myogenin、平滑肌肌动蛋白、myosin和神经细胞标志物β-tubulinⅢ、nestin、neurofilament200（NF200）、胶质纤维酸性蛋白的表达。结果与结论：从人类胚胎肌肉组织中成功培养出成肌细胞,表达成肌细胞的标志物desmin和myogenin,同时也表达神经元特异性烯醇化酶、nestin和NF200,细胞能够在体外融合形成含有多个细胞核的肌管,融合的肌管可以表达NF200、β-tubulinⅢ和胶质纤维酸性蛋白等神经细胞的标志物。结果证实,人类胚胎肌肉来源的成肌细胞能够同时表达神经细胞和肌肉细胞的标志物,培养的成肌细胞和肌管细胞表达神经元特异性烯醇化酶、β-tubulinⅢ、nestin、NF200和胶质纤维酸性蛋白。说明这几种神经细胞标志物不能用于肌肉来源的细胞向神经细胞跨分化的鉴定研究。     

Novel non-mulberry silk fibroin nanoparticles with enhanced activity as potential candidate in nanocarrier mediated delivery system

Silk fibroin (SF) is well known for its excellent biocompatible properties facilitating its application in the field of biomedical engineering through different biomaterial fabrications in the recent era. Here in this study, novel nanoparticles from non-mulberry SF of Antheraea assamensis were fabricated, characterized and evaluated for its applicability as nanocarrier. Fabricated nanoparticles were initially compared with prevailing SF nanoparticles from Bombyx mori. Fabricated A. assamensis silk fibroin nanoparticles (AA-SFNps) were found to be lesser in size (80–300 nm in diameter) than B. mori silk fibroin nanoparticles (BM-SFNps) (120–500 nm in diameter). When checked for stability, AA-SFNps were found to be more stable than BM-SFNps in biological media. FTIR and XRD studies revealed persistence of structural properties even after fabrication. TGA and DSC studies showed AA-SFNps to be thermally more stable than BM-SFNps without any cytotoxicity (MTT assay). On loading with model drug Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), AA-SFNps exhibited an encapsulation efficiency of 94.47% with 11.81% loading of the anticancer drug. Cumulative release study revealed highest percentage release of DOX (42.1 ± 0.4%) at pH 5.2 on day 7 in comparison to pH 7.4 and 8.0. Sustained release profile of the DOX loaded AA-SFNps (AA-SFNps-DOX) was clearly reflected and it was found to be highly cytotoxic against triple negative MDA-MB-231 cells in comparison to free DOX at different time points. Overall, this study showed the efficacy of the AA-SFNps as a nanocarrier for future drug delivery applications.

Novel Antheraea assamensis silk fibroin nanoparticles (AA-SFNps) exhibiting enhanced activity as doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) loaded nanocarriers for future drug delivery applications.     

静电纺丝纳米纤维膜作为骨骼肌组织工程支架材料的细胞相容性

背景:有报道以生物可降解的胶原盘或聚L-乳酸、聚羟基乙酸、聚L-乳酸/聚羟基乙酸共聚物等作为骨骼肌组织工程的支架材料,各有优缺点,不能完全满足骨骼肌组织工程的需要。目的:探讨静电纺丝纳米纤维膜作为骨骼肌组织工程支架材料的可行性。方法:制备7种不同组分的静电纺丝纳米纤维膜,以其浸提液为培养基培养第3代SD乳鼠成肌细胞,以含体积分数20%新生小牛血清的F12培养基培养的为对照。采用MTT法和扫描电镜检测成肌细胞在各组材料的黏附及生长情况。结果与结论:各组分静电纺丝纳米纤维膜吸光度值与对照组间差异无显著性意义(P>0.05)。各组分静电纺丝纳米纤维膜组成肌细胞黏附率差异有显著性意义(P<0.05)。扫描电镜与上述结果一致。含70%聚乳酸+20%蚕丝蛋白+10%胶原组成电纺丝纳米纤维膜组可见大量成肌细胞黏附,呈梭形,两极伸展,排列规律,效果最好。其他各组细胞少,形态不规则,似衰退期成肌细胞。提示静电纺丝纳米纤维膜无细胞毒性,对成肌细胞的增殖无影响,成肌细胞能良好地黏附;以70%聚乳酸+20%蚕丝蛋白+10%胶原组分效果最佳。     

静电纺丝纳米纤维膜作为骨骼肌组织工程支架材料的细胞相容性

背景：有报道以生物可降解的胶原盘或聚L-乳酸、聚羟基乙酸、聚L-乳酸/聚羟基乙酸共聚物等作为骨骼肌组织工程的支架材料,各有优缺点,不能完全满足骨骼肌组织工程的需要。目的：探讨静电纺丝纳米纤维膜作为骨骼肌组织工程支架材料的可行性。方法：制备7种不同组分的静电纺丝纳米纤维膜,以其浸提液为培养基培养第3代SD乳鼠成肌细胞,以含体积分数20%新生小牛血清的F12培养基培养的为对照。采用MTT法和扫描电镜检测成肌细胞在各组材料的黏附及生长情况。结果与结论：各组分静电纺丝纳米纤维膜吸光度值与对照组间差异无显著性意义（P〉0.05）。各组分静电纺丝纳米纤维膜组成肌细胞黏附率差异有显著性意义（P〈0.05）。扫描电镜与上述结果一致。含70%聚乳酸＋20%蚕丝蛋白＋10%胶原组成电纺丝纳米纤维膜组可见大量成肌细胞黏附,呈梭形,两极伸展,排列规律,效果最好。其他各组细胞少,形态不规则,似衰退期成肌细胞。提示静电纺丝纳米纤维膜无细胞毒性,对成肌细胞的增殖无影响,成肌细胞能良好地黏附;以70%聚乳酸＋20%蚕丝蛋白＋10%胶原组分效果最佳。     

Angiogenic gene‐modified myoblasts promote vascularization during repair of skeletal muscle defects

Vascularization is thought to be a principle obstacle in the reconstruction of skeletal muscle defects. Long‐term survival of reconstructed skeletal muscle is dependent on good vascularization. In this study, we upregulated angiogenic gene expression in myoblasts in an attempt to promote vascularization during repair of skeletal muscle defects. Skeletal myoblasts were isolated and expanded from newborn male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. The cells were transfected with human vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF‐165) or human stromal cell‐derived factor 1 (SDF‐1), using Lipofectamine? 2000 transfection reagent, prior to seeding onto calf collagen scaffolds. Gene and protein overexpression was verified by ELISA, RT–PCR and western blot analysis. Cell‐seeded scaffolds were transplanted into back muscle defects in female SD rats. At weeks 2, 4 and 8 after transplantation, Y chromosome detection was used to observe the survival of growth factor‐producing cells within the scaffolds in vivo. Capillary density was investigated using microvessel density detection, haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and immunohistochemical staining. We found that vascularization was enhanced by transfected myoblasts compared with non‐transfected myoblasts. In addition, VEGF‐165 and SDF‐1 had a synergistic effect on vascularization during repair of skeletal muscle defects in vivo. In conclusion, we have combined myoblast‐seeded collagen sponge with gene therapy, resulting in a promising approach for the construction of well‐vascularized skeletal muscle. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collagen nanofibre anisotropy induces myotube differentiation and acetylcholine receptor clustering

To create musculoskeletal tissue scaffolds for functional integration into host tissue, myotubes must be properly aligned with native tissue and spur the formation of neuromuscular junctions. However, our understanding of myoblast differentiation in response to structural alignment is incomplete. To examine how substrate anisotropy mediates myotube differentiation, we studied C2C12 myoblasts grown on aligned collagen substrates in the presence or absence of agrin. Myoblasts grown on microfluidically patterned collagen substrates demonstrated increased multinucleated myotubes and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters. However, agrin treatment did not synergistically increase differentiation of myoblasts seeded on these patterned collagen substrates. Myoblasts grown on aligned electrospun collagen nanofibres also demonstrated increased formation of multinucleated myotubes and AChR clusters, and agrin treatment did not increase differentiation of these cells. Using fluorescently labelled collagen nanofibres, we found that AChR clustered in cells grown on nanofibres with significantly higher anisotropy and that this clustering was eliminated with agrin treatment. Interestingly, anisotropy of substrate had no effect on the localization of AChRs along the myotube, suggesting that additional signalling pathways determine the specific location of AChRs along individual myotubes. Taken together, our results suggest a novel role for fibre anisotropy in myotube differentiation, specifically AChR clustering, and that anisotropy may guide differentiation by activating similar pathways to agrin. Our data suggest that agrin treatment is not necessary for differentiation and maturation of myoblasts into myotubes when myoblasts are grown on aligned collagen substrates.     

Physico‐chemical characterization and biological evaluation of two fibroin materials

Silk fibroin fibres from two different sources, Bombyx mori pure‐breed silkworms and polyhybrid cross‐bred silkworm cocoons, were treated with formic acid under planar stirring conditions to prepare non‐woven nets. The treatment partially dissolved the fibres, which bound together and formed a non‐woven micrometric net with fibres coated by a thin layer of low molecular weight fibroin matrix. The starting fibres, net materials and fibroin coating layer were characterized in terms of amino acid composition, molecular weight and calorimetric properties. In vitro cell culture tests with rat fibroblasts were performed to investigate cell proliferation, morphology and spreading. Moreover, host‐rat fibroblasts were preseeded on the afore‐mentioned nets and implanted in the thorax of rats for histological analysis. In spite of the chemical differences between the two starting fibroins, the response of the said materials in vitro and in vivo were very similar. These results suggest that the outcome is likely correlated with the modification of the processing technique; that during the formation of the net, a thin gel layer of similar amino acid composition was formed on the fibroin fibres. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation and characterization of Antheraea assama silk fibroin based novel non‐woven scaffold for tissue engineering applications

The quest for novel materials as scaffolds with suitable micro‐architecture for supporting tissue neogenesis in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) is continuing. In this paper we report an Antheraea assama silk‐based non‐woven fibroin scaffold for applications in TERM. The novel three‐dimensional scaffold is highly interconnected and porous, with a pore size of 150 µm, porosity of 90% and water uptake capacity of 85%. FTIR revealed a typical β‐sheet structure of fibroin. The scaffold has thermal and mechanical properties superior to those of Bombyx mori, as revealed by DSC, TGA and tensile tests. The scaffold exhibited satisfactory blood compatibility, as determined by thrombogenicity, haemolysis, platelet/leukocyte count, platelet adhesion and protein adsorption studies. The scaffold was found to be cytocompatible with human cell lines A549, KB, HepG2 and HeLa for a period of up to 4 weeks. SEM analysis revealed excellent attachment, spreading and migration of cells in the scaffold. MTT assay was performed to estimate the viability and growth of cells in the matrix. Quantification of collagen in cell–scaffold constructs was done by picro‐Sirius red assay. Ex ovo chorioallantoic membrane assay and nitric oxide estimations in spent culture medium showed the scaffold's ability to promote angiogenesis. Finally, the biodegradability of the scaffold was determined by the weight loss observed upon treatment with trypsin over a period of 4 weeks. The results reveal that the fibroin from A. assama is a promising candidate as a biocompatible, biomimetic and biodegradable biomaterial of natural origin for applications in TERM. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In vitro cellular response to oxidized collagen–PLLA hybrid scaffolds designed for the repair of muscular tissue defects and complex incisional hernias

Unique poly(l ‐lactic acid) (PLLA)‐based scaffolds were constructed by embedding knitted PLLA yarns within a bioresorbable and differentially crosslinked three‐dimensional (3D) oxidized collagen scaffold. The scaffolds were designed specifically for the repair of complex incisional abdominal wall hernias and the repair of defects within planar muscular tissues, such as the bladder. The chemical composition of the collagen matrix and the percentage of scaffold infiltration were compared for the different scaffold compositions. The results demonstrate that the incorporation of the collagen sponge within the PLLA scaffold facilitated bladder smooth muscle cell (bSMC) adhesion and proliferation. The highest dose of oxidized collagen (Oxicol) demonstrated better cell adhesion, resulting in the largest cell densities and most uniform distribution throughout the 3D collagen sponge. This formulation promoted the greatest α‐smooth muscle actin (αSMA) expression detected through immunohistochemical staining and western blotting. For abdominal wall repair applications, the proliferation and differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts and myotube formation were studied. Following 7 days of myogenic induction, the greatest expression of mRNA of the myogenic markers myogenin and MRF4 was observed within the scaffolds with the highest dose of oxidized collagen, 1.5‐ and 3.85‐fold greater expressions, respectively, compared to PLLA with unmodified collagen. Furthermore, in vitro myotube formation and MyMC expression were enhanced in the Oxicol scaffolds. We conclude that the Oxicol scaffold formulation with a high‐dose oxidized collagen ratio provides enhanced myogenesis and αSMA, and the biological induction cues necessary to achieve better tissue integration, than standard PLLA scaffolds in the treatment of complex abdominal wall hernias. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Minimally Invasive Approach to the Repair of Injured Skeletal Muscle With a Shape-memory Scaffold

Repair of injured skeletal muscle by cell therapies has been limited by poor survival of injected cells. Use of a carrier scaffold delivering cells locally, may enhance in vivo cell survival, and promote skeletal muscle regeneration. Biomaterial scaffolds are often implanted into muscle tissue through invasive surgeries, which can result in trauma that delays healing. Minimally invasive approaches to scaffold implantation are thought to minimize these adverse effects. This hypothesis was addressed in the context of a severe mouse skeletal muscle injury model. A degradable, shape-memory alginate scaffold that was highly porous and compressible was delivered by minimally invasive surgical techniques to injured tibialis anterior muscle. The scaffold controlled was quickly rehydrated in situ with autologous myoblasts and growth factors (either insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) alone or IGF-1 with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)). The implanted scaffolds delivering myoblasts and IGF-1 significantly reduced scar formation, enhanced cell engraftment, and improved muscle contractile function. The addition of VEGF to the scaffold further improved functional recovery likely through increased angiogenesis. Thus, the delivery of myoblasts and dual local release of VEGF and IGF-1 from degradable scaffolds implanted through a minimally invasive procedure effectively promoted the functional regeneration of injured skeletal muscle.     

Preferential codon usage and two types of repetitive motifs in the fibroin gene of the Chinese oak silkworm, Antheraea pernyi

In this paper we describe the peculiar structures and preferential codon usage found in wild silkworm fibroin genes. We determined a 1350 bp nucleotide sequence from the Chinese oak silkworm, Antheraea pernyi . The deduced amino acid sequence was partitioned into thirteen polyalanine-containing repetitive motifs, which was one of the characteristics of Antheraea fibroins. Eleven of these arrays can be classified into two types of motifs depending on difference in amino acid sequences following polyalanine. Repetitive motifs structurally similar to those of A. pernyi were detected in a homologue of the Japanese oak silkworm, Antheraea yamamai . The most remarkable feature of this study was preferential codon usage, especially seen in alanine synonymous codons within both homologues of Antheraea : isocodon GCA most frequently occurred in alanine isocodons. In contrast, GCU isocodon was the most abundant in Bombyx mori fibroin heavy chain that lacks polyalanine arrays. This result strongly suggests different modes of selective constraint between the two types of fibroin gene. The similar finding that GCA isocodon was most frequent in two dragline silk sequences of the spider, Nephila clavipes , is consistent with our results because of the repetitive polyalanine-containing arrays seen in spider dragline silk.     

Biofunctional hydrogels for skeletal muscle constructs

Hydrogel scaffolds encapsulating C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cells have been engineered as in vitro constructs towards regenerative medicine therapies for the enhancement and inducement of functional skeletal muscle formation. Previous work has largely involved two‐dimensional (2D) muscle strips, naturally occurring hydrogels and incomplete examination of the effects of the scaffold and/or biological functionalization on myogenic differentiation in a controllable manner. The goal of this study was to identify key properties in functionalized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)–maleimide (MAL) synthetic hydrogels that promote cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation for the formation of multinucleated myotubes and functional skeletal muscle tissue constructs. Significant differences in myoblast viability were observed as a function of cell seeding density, polymer weight percentage and bioadhesive ligands. The identified optimized conditions for cell survival, required for myotube development, were carried over for differentiation assays. PEG hydrogels (5% weight/volume), functionalized with 2.0 mm RGD adhesive peptide and crosslinked with protease‐cleavable peptides, incubated for 3 days before supplementation with 2% horse serum, significantly increased expression of differentiated skeletal muscle markers by 50%; 17% more multinucleated cells and a 40% increase in the number of nuclei/differentiated cell compared to other conditions. Functionality of cell‐laden hydrogels was demonstrated by a 20% decrease in the extruded length of the hydrogel when stimulated with a contractile agent, compared to 7% for a saline control. This study provided strategies to engineer a three‐dimensional (3D) microenvironment, using synthetic hydrogels to promote the development of differentiated muscle tissue from skeletal muscle progenitor cells to form contractile units. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gene transfer of connexin43 into skeletal muscle

Cellular cardiomyoplasty using skeletal myoblasts may be beneficial for infarct repair. One drawback to skeletal muscle cells is their lack of gap junction expression after differentiation, thus preventing electrical coupling to host cardiomyocytes. We sought to overexpress the gap junction protein connexin43 (Cx43) in differentiated skeletal myotubes, using retroviral, adenoviral, and plasmid-mediated gene transfer. All strategies resulted in overexpression of Cx43 in cultured myotubes, but expression of Cx43 from constitutive viral promoters caused significant death upon differentiation. Dye transfer studies showed that surviving myotubes contained functional gap junctions, however. Retrovirally transfected myoblasts did not express Cx43 after grafting into the heart, possibly due to promoter silencing. Adenovirally transfected myoblasts expressed abundant Cx43 after forming myotubes in cardiac grafts, but grafts showed signs of injury at 1 week and had died by 2 weeks. Interestingly, transfection of already differentiated myotubes with adenoviral Cx43 was nontoxic, implying a window of vulnerability during differentiation. To test this hypothesis, Cx43 was expressed from the muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter, which is active only after myocyte differentiation. The MCK promoter resulted in high levels of Cx43 expression in differentiated myotubes but did not cause cell death during differentiation. MCK-Cx43-transfected myoblasts formed viable cardiac grafts and, in some cases, Cx43-expressing myotubes were in close apposition to host cardiomyocytes, possibly allowing electrical coupling. Thus, high levels of Cx43 during skeletal muscle differentiation cause cell death. When, however, expression of Cx43 is delayed until after differentiation, using the MCK promoter, myotubes are viable and express gap junction proteins after grafting in the heart. This strategy may permit electrical coupling of skeletal and cardiac muscle for cardiac repair.     

Increasing circulating levels of Tenascin C in response to the Wingate anaerobic test

Aim

Tenascin C (TNC) is a large extracellular matrix glycoprotein. It is involved in development and upregulated both during tissue repair and in several pathological conditions, including cardiovascular disease. Extracellular matrix proteins play a role in promoting exercise responses, leading to adaptation, regeneration, and repair. The main goal of this study was to investigate whether a short anaerobic effort leads to increased levels of TNC in serum.

Methods

Thirty-nine healthy men performed a Wingate test followed by a muscle biopsy. Myoblasts were isolated from the muscle biopsies and differentiated to myotubes ex vivo. TNC RNA was quantified in the biopsies, myotubes and myoblasts using RNA sequencing. Blood samples were drawn before and 5 min after the Wingate test. Serum TNC levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results

After the Wingate test, serum TNC increased on average by 23% [15–33], median [interquartile range]; P_Wilcoxon < 0.0001. This increase is correlated with peak power output and power drop, but not with VO_2max. TNC RNA expression is higher in myoblasts and myotubes compared to skeletal muscle tissue.

Conclusion

TNC is secreted systemically as a response to the Wingate anaerobic test in healthy males. The response was positively correlated with peak power and power drop, but not with VO_2max which implicates a relation to mechanical strain and/or blood flow. With higher expression in undifferentiated myoblast cells than muscle tissue, it is likely that TNC plays a role in muscle tissue remodelling in humans. Our findings open for research on how TNC contributes to exercise adaptation.     

Bacterial community structure and diversity in the gut of the muga silkworm,Antheraea assamensis (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), from India

The muga silkworm, Antheraea assamensis, is exclusively present in the northeastern regions of India and rearing of this silkworm is a vocation unique to this region in the world. Through culture‐dependent techniques, generic identification using 16S ribosomal RNA probes, diversity analysis and qualitative screening for enzyme activities, our studies have identified a number of bacterial isolates, viz. Bacillus spp., Serratia marcescens, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Acinetobacter sp. and Alcaligens sp., inhabiting the gut of the muga silkworm. Analysis of the culturable bacterial community from the gut of An. assamensis revealed that Bacillus (54%) was the predominant bacterial genus followed by Serratia (24%), Pseudomonas (10%) and Alcaligens (6%). Significant differences in the Shannon–Wiener (H') and Simpson (D) diversity indices of gut bacteria were recorded for An. assamensis collected from different regions. H' and D values were found to be highest for An. assamensis from the Titabar region (H' = 4.73 ± 0.43; D = 10.00 ± 0.11) and lowest for individuals from the Mendipathar region (H' = 2.1 ± 0.05; D = 0.04 ± 0.00) of northeastern India. Qualitative screening for enzyme activities identified about 26 gut bacterial isolates having significantly higher cellulose, amylase and lipase activities. These isolates probably contribute to the digestion and nutrition of their host insect, An. assamensis.     

Electrical stimulation of microengineered skeletal muscle tissue: Effect of stimulus parameters on myotube contractility and maturation

Skeletal muscle tissues engineered in vitro are aneural, are short in the number of fibres required to function properly and degenerate rapidly. Electrical stimulation has been widely used to compensate for such a lack of neural activity, yet the relationship between the stimulation parameters and the tissue response is subject to debate. Here we studied the effect of overnight electrical stimulation (training) on the contractility and maturity of aligned C2C12 myotubes developed on micropatterned gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) substrates. Bipolar rectangular pulse (BRP) trains with frequency, half‐duration and applied pulse train amplitudes of f = 1 Hz, t_on = 0.5 ms and V_app = {3 V, 4 V, 4.5 V}, respectively, were applied for 12 h to the myotubes formed on the microgrooved substrates. Aligned myotubes were contracting throughout the training period for V_app ≥ 4 V. Immediately after training, the samples were subjected to series of BRPs with 2 ≤ V_app ≤ 5 V and 0.2 ≤ t_on ≤ 0.9 ms, during which myotube contraction dynamics were recorded. Analysis of post‐training contraction revealed that only the myotubes trained at V_app = 4 V displayed consistent and repeatable contraction profiles, showing the dynamics of myotube contractility as a function of triggering pulse voltage and current amplitudes, duration and imposed electrical energy. In addition, myotubes trained at V_app = 4 V displayed amplified expression levels of genes pertinent to sarcomere development correlated with myotube maturation. Our findings are imperative for a better understanding of the influence of electrical pulses on the maturation of microengineered myotubes.     

Promotion of muscle regeneration by myoblast transplantation combined with the controlled and sustained release of bFGFcpr

Although myoblast transplantation is an attractive method for muscle regeneration, its efficiency remains limited. The efficacy of myoblast transplantation in combination with the controlled and sustained delivery of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was investigated. Defects of thigh muscle in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were created, and GFP‐positive myoblasts were subsequently transplanted. The rats were divided into three groups. In control group 1 (C1) only myoblasts were transplanted, while in control group 2 (C2) myoblasts were introduced along with empty gelatin hydrogel microspheres. In the experimental group (Ex), myoblasts were transplanted along with bFGF incorporated into gelatin hydrogel microspheres. Four weeks after transplantation, GFP‐positive myoblasts were found to be integrated into the recipient muscle and to contribute to muscle fibre regeneration in all groups. A significantly higher expression level of GFP in the Ex group demonstrated that the survival rate of transplanted myoblasts in Ex was remarkably improved compared with that in C1 and C2. Furthermore, myofibre regeneration, characterized by centralization of the nuclei, was markedly accelerated in Ex. The expression level of CD31 in Ex was higher than that in both C1 and C2, but the differences were not statistically significant. A significantly higher expression level of Myogenin and a lower expression level of MyoD1 were both observed in Ex after 4 weeks, suggesting the promotion of differentiation to myotubes. Our findings suggest that the controlled and sustained release of bFGF from gelatin hydrogel microspheres improves the survival rate of transplanted myoblasts and promotes muscle regeneration by facilitating myogenesis rather than angiogenesis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.