Gene controls regeneration of injured muscle by adult stem cells
The study results further suggest that this "overlooked" gene may play an important role in sarcopenia, the loss of muscle tissues with age. Specifically, the research team found that levels of a single protein known as AUF1 determine whether pools of stem cells retain the ability to regenerate muscle after injury and as mice age. Changes in the action of AUF1 have also been linked by past studies to human muscle diseases. More than 30 genetic diseases, collectively known as myopathies, feature defects in this regeneration process and cause muscles to weaken or waste away. Clinical presentation and age of diagnosis vary; Duchenne muscular dystrophy develops in infants, limb girdle muscular dystrophy weakens the torso and limb muscles beginning in young adulthood, and sarcopenia occurs in older patients. "This work places the origin of certain muscle diseases squarely within muscle stem cells, and shows that AUF1 is a vital controller of adult muscle stem cell f...