To better understand the biological characteristics of Luxi cattle embryo skeletal muscle satellite cells,those cells from the skeletal muscles of the limbs of 30-50 days old Luxi cattle embryo were isolated and cultured.The results showed that two surface antigen markers,Desmin and Myod,were positively expressed in the harvested cells by immunofluorescence.Desmin,Myf5,c-Met and pax7 were found to be positively expressed by RT-PCR.Growth curve indicated that the cells were capable of proliferating strongly.In addition,the cell cycle analysis showed that the cells in S phase accounted for 8.94% of the total.After 10 days for myoblasts induce,the maker specific for fast skeletal myosin of myotubules was positively detected by immunofluorescence.After 7 days for adipogenic induce,lipid droplets were detected to be positive using Red Oil O dye; the adipocyte specific genes,ppar-γ and LPL,were identified to be positively expressed by RT-PCR.The Luxi cattle embryo skeletal muscle satellite cells were cultured successfully via vitro culture system,and could be induced to differentiate into multinucleated myotubes and adipocyte,respectively.This provided a new method for preserving animal genetic resources and for study stem cells theoretically in the future.