As we age, it will get tougher to get better from a fall, damage or perhaps a robust exercise as a result of the physique’s muscle-repair system begins to falter. Muscle stem cells (MuSCs), the in-house restore crew, cease dividing and rebuilding tissue, dropping their capability to reply to injury.
A research in Cell Stem Cell on June 12 urged this decline could also be reversible. The key isn’t some futuristic remedy however a molecule already utilized in hospitals at the moment.
Researchers discovered that 5 day by day injections of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a compound concerned in irritation and used clinically to induce labour, restored muscle stem cell operate in aged mice. After therapy, older mice regained the power to regenerate broken muscle: their muscle fibres grew bigger, muscle mass elevated, and energy improved by about 20% in contrast to their untreated friends.
The findings are essential as a result of PGE2 is of course produced within the physique, notably after damage. It alerts MuSCs to begin repairs in young muscle, however in older tissue this sign fades, leaving stem cells inactive even when wanted.
After PGE2 therapy, aged stem cells “woke up”, resumed dividing, participated in tissue restore, and helped restore the animals’ muscle energy. Remarkably, these results lasted no less than two weeks past the therapy window, suggesting greater than only a short-term enhance.
Even extra strikingly, the end result held true outdoors the physique. When aged stem cells have been handled with PGE2 for simply 48 hours within the lab and transplanted into injured muscle, they fashioned new tissue at ranges comparable to young stem cells. Imaging confirmed that these handled cells engrafted robustly, continued for weeks, and even expanded in response to subsequent damage — proof that PGE2 acted immediately on the cells themselves, not simply their surroundings.
To perceive how, the staff examined molecular adjustments contained in the cells. PGE2 reopened areas of the genome that had develop into inaccessible with age. It additionally dialed down a stress-related pathway known as AP-1, which turns into overactive in ageing MuSCs. The molecule reset the cells’ inner programmes, permitting them to act extra like their youthful selves.
The research provides to an ongoing shift in how scientists take into consideration ageing. For years, researchers believed age-related decline in muscle restore was pushed primarily by the surroundings round stem cells, akin to irritation or scar tissue. But this work provides to proof that stem cells themselves carry reversible, inner adjustments, opening the door to therapies that rejuvenate cells immediately.
The relevance goes far past the lab. Sarcopenia impacts tens of millions and contributes to frailty, sluggish restoration, and hospital readmissions in older adults. There aren’t any permitted therapies that restore MuSC operate. The new research suggests a short intervention might in the future help therapeutic in such conditions.
More analysis is required earlier than this remedy might be examined in people. But by exhibiting that stem cell ageing isn’t irreversible, this research additionally opens a brand new frontier.
Anirban Mukhopadhyay is a geneticist by coaching and science communicator from Delhi.
Published – June 16, 2025 05:45 am IST
