Culprit for Age-related Decline in Muscle Healing Uncovered

An age-related decline in recovery from muscle injury can be traced to a protein that suppresses the special ability of muscle stem cells to build new muscles, according to work from a team of current and former Carnegie biologists led by Chen-Ming Fan and published in Nature Metabolism. Skeletal muscles have a tremendous capacity to make new muscles from special muscle stem cells. These "blank" cells are not only good at making muscles but also at generating more of themselves, a process called self-renewal. But their amazing abilities diminish with age, resulting in poorer muscle regeneration from muscle trauma. The research team--including Carnegie's Liangji Li, Michelle Rozo, Sibiao Yue, Xiaobin Zheng, and Frederick Tan, as well as Christoph Lepper formerly of Carnegie now at the Ohio State University--figured out that a protein called GAS1 is the culprit for this age-related decline. "Encoded by the growth-arrest specific gene, the GAS1 protein lives up to its name, accelerating the functional decline of muscle stem cells," explained lead author Li. The protein is found in only a small number of young muscle stem cells, but is present in all aged muscle stem cells, they discovered. Tinkering with muscle stem cells to express GAS1 in the https://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/news/culprit-for-age-related-decline-in-muscle-healing-uncovered-324512?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=77506203&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--rjolzNTyeSIZQO2DzyIpYOqAzldhTtZVEgxSj93ElClROuOL0LoQwrtfOi0bgPDFG12U088ztoP6mPDo04WdjeQDJrQ&_hsmi=77506203