Local translational program at the muscle-tendon junction endows domain identity in muscle syncytia.

MTJ-AAV targeting in skeletal muscle shows extensive, MTJ-specific translational regulation, with Krüpper-like factor-family transcription factors translationally up-regulated at the muscle-tendon junction.

• Why it matters: Domain identity at the muscle-tendon junction is critical for force transmission, but whether local translation shapes MTJ subdomains is unknown due to limited domain-specific tools.
• What they did: The study developed MTJ-AAV to selectively target MTJ myonuclei, performed MTJ-specific ribosome tagging, and tested whether untranslated regions can regionalize translation.
• The result: MTJ untranslated regions were sufficient for localized translation, and Krüpper-like factor-family transcription factors were linked to MTJ-local gene expression, enabling spatial dissection of molecular regulation in muscle syncytia.

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