Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Rejuvenating aged muscle stem cells

Nature Medicine volume 20, pages 234–235 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Decreased muscle stem cell function in aging has long been shown to depend on altered environmental cues, whereas the contribution of intrinsic mechanisms remained less clear. Two new studies now reveal that cell-autonomous changes in the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway are major phenotype determinants of aged muscles stem cells (pages 255–271).

Aging is accompanied by a decline in neuromuscular performance, skeletal muscle mass and stem cell function1,2. Weakened muscles substantially increase the chance of injury, such as by falling. Because of the reduced regenerative capacity of aged tissues, recovery from such incidents and from subsequent surgical procedures is slow and possibly incomplete. Moreover, the inactivity associated with bed rest further accelerates muscle catabolism. These problems can lead to a vicious cycle of muscle loss, injury and inefficient repair, causing elderly patients to become increasingly sedentary over time. Thus, therapeutic strategies boosting muscle mass and regeneration in the aged are currently sought after.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Increased p38 signaling impairs self-renewal of aged satellite cells.

References

  1. Power, G.A., Dalton, B.H. & Rice, C.L. J. Sport Health Sci. 2, 215–226 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Liu, L. & Rando, T.A. J. Cell Biol. 193, 257–266 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Yin, H., Price, F. & Rudnicki, M.A. Physiol. Rev. 93, 23–67 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. García-Prat, L., Sousa-Victor, P. & Munoz-Canoves, P. FEBS J. 280, 4051–4062 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Conboy, I.M. et al. Nature 433, 760–764 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Brack, A.S. et al. Science 317, 807–810 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bernet, J.D. et al. Nat. Med. 20, 265–271 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Cosgrove, B.D. et al. Nat. Med. 20, 255–264 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Chakkalakal, J.V., Jones, K.M., Basson, M.A. & Brack, A.S. Nature 490, 355–360 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Troy, A. et al. Cell Stem Cell 11, 541–553 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Jones, N.C. et al. J. Cell Biol. 169, 105–116 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Arthur, J.S. & Ley, S.C. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 13, 679–692 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Bain, J. et al. Biochem. J. 408, 297–315 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Gilbert, P.M. et al. Science 329, 1078–1081 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, C. Florian Bentzinger and Michael A. Rudnicki are in the Regenerative Medicine Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,

    C Florian Bentzinger & Michael A Rudnicki

  2. Michael A. Rudnicki is also at the Sprott Center for Stem Cell Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,

    Michael A Rudnicki

Authors
  1. C Florian Bentzinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael A Rudnicki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael A Rudnicki.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bentzinger, C., Rudnicki, M. Rejuvenating aged muscle stem cells. Nat Med 20, 234–235 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3499

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3499

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing