We have synthesized dextran derivatives called RGTAs (for regenerating agents) that were designed to mimic some of the properties of heparin or heparan sulfate to interact with and protect heparin binding growth factors. Some of these growth factors have been described to be involved in myogenesis control. In previous studies, we have shown that muscle regeneration in adults could be greatly enhanced in vivo by treatment with RGTA. Since muscle regeneration occurs through the activation of satellite cells, in the present study we have used primary cultures of rat satellite cells and treated them with the heparan sulfate analogue RGTA or heparin in order to stimulate their growth and differentiation. We also studied the effect of these substances on calpain (calcium-activated neutral proteases) expression in these cultures. Indeed, several reports, principally based on fetal myoblast cultures or myogenic cell lines, have suggested that calpains might be involved in myoblast fusion during myogenic differentiation. We therefore studied the expression of microcalpain (mu-calpain), millicalpain (m-calpain), and calpain 3 in the course of differentiation of these satellite cell cultures in the absence or in the presence of heparin or of a mimic compound (the RGTA RG1282). RGTA and heparin were shown to have a dual effect on satellite cell proliferation and differentiation: RGTA stimulated proliferation with a maximum dose effect at 1 microgam/ml. Heparin used at concentrations similar to those of RGTA was less efficient at stimulating proliferation. Both substances were shown, however, to induce precocious and enhanced differentiation of satellite cells. We showed by quantitative RT-PCR analysis that mu-calpain, m-calpain, and calpain 3 mRNAs were expressed in satellite cell cultures in proliferating myoblasts (day 3) and differentiating cultures (days 7 and 12). The level of mu-calpain mRNA was increased by a factor of 3 during differentiation of satellite cells, whereas the level of m-calpain mRNAs was slightly increased at day 12 only, and calpain 3 mRNA was slightly reduced in these differentiating cultures. Interestingly enough, RGTA and heparin, which both strongly increased differentiation, reduced the expression of the mu- and m-calpains and slightly increased that of calpain 3 in differentiating cultures. These results showed that there was no correlation between the extent of myoblast differentiation and the level of calpain expression in satellite cells grown in primary cultures and underscored the differences between these adult cells and fetal myoblasts.