The regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle declines with age. Previous studies suggest that this process can be reversed by exposure to young circulation, but systemic age-specific factors responsible for this phenomenon are largely unknown. Here we report that oxytocin- a hormone best known for its role in lactation, parturition, and social behaviors - is required for proper muscle tissue regeneration and homeostasis, and that plasma levels of oxytocin decline with age. Inhibition of oxytocin signaling in young animals reduces muscle regeneration, whereas systemic administration of oxytocin rapidly improves muscle regeneration by enhancing aged muscle stem cell activation/proliferation throughactivation of the MAPK/ERK signalling pathway. We further show that the genetic lack of oxytocin does not cause a developmental defect in muscle, but instead leads to premature sarcopenia. Considering that oxytocin is an FDA approved drug, this work reveals a potential novel and safe way to combat or prevent skeletal muscle aging.

A-to-G), but cannot produce base transversions. Here we present BEs that cause C-to-A transversions in E. coli and C-to-G transversions in mammalian cells. Our glycosylase base editors (GBEs) consist of a Cas9 nickase, a cytidine deaminase and a Uracil-DNA glycosylase (Ung). Ung excises the U base created by the deaminase, creating an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site that initiates the DNA repair process. [AU: unclear how this results in a transversion. Can this be

Terminal differentiation of skeletal myoblasts involves alignment of the mononucleated cells, fusion into multinucleated syncitia, and transcription of muscle-specific genes. Myogenesis in vivo is regulated partially by IGF-I initiated signaling that results in activation of an intracellular phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) signaling cascade. Downstream signaling through the Raf/MEK/ERK axis, a pathway initiated by IGF-I, also is implicated in the regulation of muscle formation. The involvement of ERK1 and ERK2 during myogenesis was examined in C2C12 myoblasts. C2C12 myoblasts stably expressing a small interfering RNA (siRNA) directed against ERK1 or ERK2 were created. Both of the kinases were reduced to trace levels as measured by Western for total ERK and retained the capacity to become phosphorylated. C2C12siERK2 knockdown myoblasts failed to fuse into multinucleated myofibers. By contrast, cells expressing a scrambled siRNA or ERK1 siRNA fused into large multinucleated structures. The block to muscle formation did not involve continued cell cycle progression or apoptosis. C2C12siERK1 myoblasts expressed an increased amount of ERK2 protein and formed larger myofibers in response to IGF-I treatment. Interestingly, IGF-I treatment of C2C12 ERK2 knockdown myoblasts did not reinstate the myogenic program arguing that ERK2 is required for differentiation. These results provide evidence for ERK2 as a positive regulator of myogenesis and suggest that ERK1 is dispensable for myoblast proliferation and differentiation.

The regenerative capacity of muscle dramatically decreases with age because old muscle stem cells fail to proliferate in response to tissue damage. Here we uncover key age-specific differences underlying this proliferative decline: namely, the genetic loci of CDK inhibitors (CDKI) p21 and p16 are more epigenetically silenced in young muscle stem cells, as compared to old, both in quiescent cells and those responding to tissue injury. Interestingly, phosphorylated ERK (pERK) induced in these cells by ectopic FGF-2 is found in association with p21 and p16 promoters, and moreover, only in the old cells. Importantly, in the old satellite cells FGF-2/pERK silences p21 epigenetically and transcriptionally, which leads to reduced p21 protein levels and enhanced cell proliferation. In agreement with the epigenetic silencing of the loci, young muscle stem cells do not depend as much as old on ectopic FGF/pERK for their myogenic proliferation. In addition, other CDKIs, such asp15INK4B and p27KIP1, become elevated in satellite cells with age, confirming and explaining the profound regenerative defect of old muscle. This work enhances our understanding of tissue aging, promoting strategies for combating age-imposed tissue degeneration.

Satellite cells are a heterogeneous population of myogenic precursors responsible for muscle growth and repair in mammals. The objectives of the experiment were to examine the growth rates and degree of heterogeneity within bovine satellite cells (BSC) isolated from young and adult animals. The BSC were harvested from the semimembranosus of young (4.3 ± 0.5 d) and adult (estimated 24 to 27 mo) cattle and cultured en masse. Young animal BSC re-enter the cell cycle sooner and reach maximal 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation earlier (P < 0.05) than adult contemporaries. Adult BSC contain fewer (P < 0.05) MyoD and myogenin immunopositive nuclei than BSC isolated from young animals after 3, 4, and 5 d in culture. These results indicate that BSC from young animals activate, proliferate, and differentiate sooner than isolates from adult animals. Lineage heterogeneity within BSC was examined using antibodies specific for Pax7 and Myf5, lineage markers of satellite cells, and myoblasts. Immunocytochemistry revealed the majority of Pax7-expressing BSC also express Myf5; a minor population (~5%) fails to exhibit Myf5 immunoreactivity. The percentage of Pax7:Myf5 BSC from young animals decreases sooner (P < 0.05) in culture than adult BSC, indicating a more rapid rate of muscle fiber formation. A subpopulation immunopositive for Myf5 only was identified in both ages of BSC isolates. The growth kinetics and heterogeneity of young BSC was further evaluated by clonal analysis. Single cell clones were established and analyzed after 10 d. Colonies segregated into 2 groups based upon population doubling time. Immunostaining of the slow-growing colonies (population doubling time ≥ 3 d) revealed that a portion exhibited asymmetric distribution of the lineage markers Pax7 and Myf5, similar to self-renewable mouse muscle stem cells. In summary, these results offer insight into the heterogeneity of BSC and provide evidence for subtle differences between rodent and bovine myogenic precursors.

This work builds upon our findings that proteins secreted by hESCs exhibit pro-regenerative activity, and determines that hESC-conditioned medium robustly enhances the proliferation of both muscle and neural progenitor cells. Importantly, this work establishes that it is the proteins that bind heparin which are responsible for the pro-myogenic effects of hESC-conditioned medium, and indicates that this strategy is suitable for enriching the potentially therapeutic factors. Additionally, this work shows that hESC-secreted proteins act independently of the mitogen FGF-2, and suggests that FGF-2 is unlikely to be a pro-aging molecule in the physiological decline of old muscle repair. Moreover, hESC-secreted factors improve the viability of human cortical neurons in an Alzheimer's disease (AD) model, suggesting that these factors can enhance the maintenance and regeneration of multiple tissues in the aging body.

Niche localized HGF plays an integral role in G 0 exit and the return to mitotic activity of adult skeletal muscle satellite cells. HGF actions are regulated by MET initiated intracellular signaling events that include recruitment of SHP2, a protein tyrosine phosphatase. The importance of SHP2 in HGFmediated signaling was examined in myoblasts and primary cultures of satellite cells. Myoblasts stably expressing SHP2 (23A2-SHP2) demonstrate increased proliferation rates by comparison to controls or myoblasts expressing a phosphatase-deficient SHP2 (23A2-SHP2DN). By comparison to 23A2 myoblasts, treatment of 23A2-SHP2 cells with HGF does not further increase proliferation rates and 23A2-SHP2DN myoblasts are unresponsive to HGF. Importantly, the effects of SHP2 are independent of downstream ERK1/2 activity as inclusion of PD98059 does not blunt the HGF induced proliferative response. SHP2 function was further evaluated in primary satellite cell cultures. Ectopic expression of SHP2 in satellite cells tends to decrease proliferation rates and siSHP2 causes an increase the percentage of dividing myogenic cells. Interestingly, treatment of satellite cells with high concentrations of HGF (50 ng/ml) inhibits proliferation, which can be overcome by knockdown of SHP2. From these results, we conclude that HGF signals through SHP2 in myoblasts and satellite cells to directly alter proliferation rates.

Traditional cell-screening techniques such as FACS and MACS are better suited for large numbers of cells isolated from bulk tissue and cannot easily screen stem or progenitor cells from minute populations found in their physiological niches. Furthermore, these techniques rely upon irreversible antibody binding, potentially altering cell properties, including gene expression and regenerative capacity. To address these challenges, we have developed a novel, label-free stem-cell analysis and sorting platform capable of quantifying cell-surface marker expression of single functional organ stem cells directly isolated from their micro-anatomical niche. Using our unique platform, we have discovered a remarkable heterogeneity in both the regenerative capacity and expression of CXCR4, β1-integrin, Sca-1, M-cadherin, Syndecan-4, and Notch-1 in freshly isolated muscle stem (satellite) cells residing on different, single myofibers and have identified a small population of Sca-1+/Myf5+ myogenic satellite cells. Our results demonstrate the utility of our single-cell platform for uncovering and functionally characterizing stem-cell heterogeneity in the organ microniche.