Satellite cells, located under the basal lamina of adult skeletal muscle fibres, are muscle stem cells, being able to regenerate skeletal muscle and to reconstitute the satellite cell pool following their grafting into irradiated mdx-nude host muscles. Satellite cells from aged donor mice can regenerate skeletal muscle and self-renew efficiently within young host muscle and young satellite cells function equally well within old and young host muscles, provided the host muscle is irradiated prior to grafting. However, satellite cell engraftment within non-irradiated mdx-nude host muscle is minimal. Other injury regimes have been shown to augment donor-derived skeletal muscle regeneration, but no systematic comparison has yet been made between the different injury regimes. We have therefore compared the extent of donor-derived satellite cell skeletal muscle regeneration in host muscles that have been either not treated, or irradiated with 18Gy, or injected with snake venom, or cryodamaged, prior to grafting. Our data suggest that ablation of host satellite cells is crucial for efficient donor-derived skeletal muscle regeneration, although other factors appear to be required for optimal engraftment.