Skeletal Muscle Apoptosis: a Debated Issue Now Well Resolved in Favor of the Padua School of Skeletal Muscle. A Review

Abstract

In my research I have often found myself on the wrong side of the flow of international beliefs. I have generally been wrong and wasted my time and resources and my co-workers, but, sometimes, we have been on the right side. Such was the case with the role of apoptosis, also known as the programmed cell death, in biology and pathology of skeletal muscle tissue. Indeed, our original and pioneering findings have led to a change of direction in this research area. This role had been dismissed by the leading myologists, but using electron microscopy and molecular analyzes we demonstrated that accepted markers of apoptosis were present in mouse skeletal muscles two days after one night of voluntary running (up to 5 km during the first night). In a few years we have extended this fundamental observation to other experimental models in vivo and in vitro and in human cases of muscular dystrophies. In this paper I will give an overview of how the story began, but I must emphasize that Marzena Podhorska-Okolow and Marco Sandri deserve the highest praise for their most notable roles in the beginning and after, the roles and services that are still notable today.