Previous studies suggest that adult muscle stem cell repair is regulated by biochemical signals including the enzyme mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). However, the biochemical signals do not work as effectively in old muscle stem cells. Now research reports that manipulating the MAPK enzyme in old human muscle stem cells restored the muscle’s youthful regenerative ability.
The study, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, examined the muscle cells of young and older men. Researchers from various institutions including the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed muscle tissue samples from 30 healthy young men aged 21 to 24 years old and older men aged 68 to 74 years old.
At the beginning of the study, muscle biopsies were obtained from the quadriceps (front thigh muscle) of the participants. The subjects then had the leg immobilized in a cast for two weeks. After the casts were removed, the participants lifted weights to regenerate the muscle mass. Additional muscle biopsies were obtained from the participants. The researchers also cultured the old human muscle cells and forced MAPK activation.
The researchers found that there were 50 percent fewer adult muscle stem cells in the old muscle compared to the young muscle. During exercise, the young muscle had four times more adult muscle stem cells. The old muscle also showed signs of inflammation and scar formation. However, when the old muscle cells were stimulated with MAPK, muscle regeneration was significantly increased.
“Indeed, activation of MAPK/Notch restored ‘youthful’ myogenic responses to satellite cells from 70-year-old humans, rendering them similar to cells from 20-year-old humans,” the study authors write. “These findings strongly suggest that aging of human muscle maintenance and repair can be reversed by ‘youthful’ calibration of specific molecular pathways.”
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