New Research on Muscle-Building Stem Cells
New evidence explains how stem cells known as satellite cells contribute to building muscles up in response to exercise.
The research has shown that a transient and local rise in an inflammatory signal, the cytokine known as interleukin-6 (IL-6), is essential for the growth of muscle fibers.
Skeletal muscles are composed of individual myofibers, each with many nuclei containing genetic material. Muscles that are made to work harder adapt by bulking up each of those individual fibers, but the mechanisms responsible have remained elusive.
Increasing evidence has shown that the growth of myofibers is limited by the need to maintain an equilibrium between the number of nuclei and the fibers’ overall volume. Because mature myofibers are incapable of cell division, new nuclei must be supplied by satellite cells (muscle stem cells). Once activated, satellite cells follow an ordered set of events, including proliferation, migration, and incorporation into the myofiber, leading to its growth.
Now, the researchers have found that IL-6 is an essential regulator in that process. While IL-6 was virtually undetectable in the muscles of control mice, animals whose muscles were made to work harder showed an increase in IL-6 after one day. That cytokine rise was maintained for two weeks before it declined again.
This research was published in the January issue of Cell Metabolism, and the full press release can be found here.
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