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TISSUE-SPECIFIC STEM CELLS

A Population of Myogenic Stem Cells That Survives Skeletal Muscle Aging

^aThe Dubowitz Neuromuscular Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom;
^bRandall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, King's College London, New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, London, United Kingdom;
^cChildren's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

Key Words. Stem cell • Satellite cell • Aging • Skeletal muscle • Self-renewal • Regeneration

Correspondence: Jennifer E. Morgan, Ph.D., The Dubowitz Neuromuscular Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 ONN, U.K. Telephone: +44 (0)20 8383 2125; Fax: +44 (0)20 8383 2187; e-mail: jennifer.morgan{at}imperial.ac.uk; or Peter S. Zammit, Ph.D., Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, King's College London, New Hunt's House, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, U.K. Telephone: +44 (0)20 7848 8217; Fax: +44 (0)20 7848 6435; e-mail: peter.zammit{at}kcl.ac.uk

Received June 19, 2006; accepted for publication December 22, 2006.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   January 11, 2007.



Age-related decline in integrity and function of differentiated adult tissues is widely attributed to reduction in number or regenerative potential of resident stem cells. The satellite cell, resident beneath the basal lamina of skeletal muscle myofibers, is the principal myogenic stem cell. Here we have explored the capacity of satellite cells within aged mouse muscle to regenerate skeletal muscle and to self-renew using isolated myofibers in tissue culture and in vivo. Satellite cells expressing Pax7 were depleted from aged muscles, and when aged myofibers were placed in culture, satellite cell myogenic progression resulted in apoptosis and fewer total differentiated progeny. However, a minority of cultured aged satellite cells generated large clusters of progeny containing both differentiated cells and new cells of a quiescent satellite-cell-like phenotype characteristic of self-renewal. Parallel in vivo engraftment assays showed that, despite the reduction in Pax7⁺ cells, the satellite cell population associated with individual aged myofibers could regenerate muscle and self-renew as effectively as the larger population of satellite cells associated with young myofibers. We conclude that a minority of satellite cells is responsible for adult muscle regeneration, and that these stem cells survive the effects of aging to retain their intrinsic potential throughout life. Thus, the effectiveness of stem-cell-mediated muscle regeneration is determined by both extrinsic environmental influences and diversity in intrinsic potential of the stem cells themselves.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.

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