Ageless satellite cells
Spanish researchers demonstrated for the first time in mice that muscle stem cells age differently, and identified a subgroup of cells with the greatest regenerative ability, which persists until old age. The researchers also identified a physiological mechanism that supports the regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells. This is the result of more than seven years of research and collaboration with several laboratories in Europe and the USA.
Skeletal muscle regeneration depends on a population of muscle stem cells (satellite cells) that are dormant. Damage or stress triggers the formation of new muscle fibers and the emergence of new stem cells.
It is known that the regenerative functions of stem cells decrease with age. Dr. Pura Munoz-Canovez, professor at ICREA, and his colleagues discovered in experiments on mice that all muscle stem cells, even when at rest, are not the same, and identified a subgroup that retains its regenerative ability over time.
A subgroup of muscle stem cells with a high level of CD34 protein loses its functions only in old age.
Researchers have shown that this subgroup of dormant stem cells has a greater ability to regenerate due to the activation of the FoxO signaling pathway associated with longevity, which supports the expression of the gene program of youth throughout life; however, in old age, the activity of FoxO in this subgroup of cells decreases, which leads to the loss of their functionality.
According to the results of a study published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, compounds that activate the FoxO pathway can have a rejuvenating effect on old muscle stem cells and possibly improve the health of elderly people with muscle loss, as well as patients who have lost muscle mass as a result of neuromuscular diseases, cancer or severe infections.
Article by L.García-Prat et al. FoxO maintains a genuine muscle stem-cell quiet state until geriatric age published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Universitat Pompeu Fabra: Researchers at UPF, CNIC, ICREA and Ciberned identify a subgroup of stem cells that resists aging and maintains muscle regeneration capacity until geriatric age.