Studies on the effect of mevinolin (lovastatin) and mevastatin (compactin) on the fusion of L6 myoblasts.

The effect of mevastatin and mevinolin on the fusion of L6 myoblasts was studied. Both compounds were present inhibitors of myoblast fusion at concentrations as low as 0.25 microM, but fusion was restored when the inhibitors were removed. Both compounds resulted in decreased binding of conA and WGA to cell surface oligosaccharides showing they were causing a reduction in N-linked cell surface glycoproteins. There was a reduction in creatine phosphokinase activities in the presence of both compounds showing that they were affecting biochemical differentiation. The presence of both compounds inhibited the incorporation of labeled mannose from GDP-mannose into lipid-sugar and N-linked glycoprotein, but the inhibition was reversed by addition of exogenous dolichol phosphate to the incorporation mixture. The main conclusion from these studies is that mevinolin and mevastatin are inhibiting myoblast fusion by affecting the synthesis of fusogenic cell surface N-linked glycoproteins probably by affecting the synthesis of dolichol phosphate containing oligosaccharides that are required as intermediates in N-linked glycoprotein biosynthesis.

The importance of N-linked glycoproteins and dolichyl phosphate synthesis for fusion of L6 myoblasts.

Myoblasts fuse to form multinucleated myotubes, one of the early steps in the formation of multinucleated muscle fiber. The fusion reaction is accompanied by biochemical differentiation resulting in the expression of a variety of enzyme activities and macromolecules, particularly creatine phosphokinase. The fusing myoblast is thus an excellent system for use in studies on the molecular basis of cellular recognition. This report focuses on the role played by glycoproteins in this process. It was found that alteration of cell-surface glycoproteins, using oligosaccharide-processing inhibitors that interfered with the synthesis of the high-mannose type of N-linked oligosaccharide, resulted in the inhibition of both the fusion reaction and biochemical differentiation as determined by measurement of creatine phosphokinase. Ketoconazole, compactin, and lovastatin, which affect dolichol and cholesterol biosynthesis, were also potent fusion inhibitors. These observations, coupled with earlier studies on the characterization of fusion-defective myoblast cell lines defective in glycoprotein biosynthesis, point to the importance of surface glycoproteins in cellular recognition in L6 myoblasts.