Abstract
Efficient tissue regeneration is dependent on the coordinated responses of multiple cell types. Here, we describe a new subpopulation of fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) resident in muscle tissue but arising from a distinct developmental lineage. Transplantation of purified FAPs results in the generation of ectopic white fat when delivered subcutaneously or intramuscularly in a model of fatty infiltration, but not in healthy muscle, suggesting that the environment controls their engraftment. These cells are quiescent in intact muscle but proliferate efficiently in response to damage. FAPs do not generate myofibres, but enhance the rate of differentiation of primary myogenic progenitors in co-cultivation experiments. In summary, FAPs expand upon damage to provide a transient source of pro-differentiation signals for proliferating myogenic progenitors.
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Acknowledgements
We thank J. Qiao, C. Chang, J. M. Joe, the BRC Animal Facility, the BRC Core Staff and A. Johnson and J. Duenas of the UBC FACS Facility for their expert technical assistance. We are also grateful to A. Uezumi for advice on modelling fatty degeneration in murine skeletal muscle. This research was supported by grants from The Foundation for Cell therapy (Jesse's Journey) and The Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR MOP-97856; CSB-94219; MUS-94019) to F.M.V.R. who holds a Canada Research Chair in Regenerative medicine and is a fellow of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. A.W.B.J. is supported by a fellowship from CIHR, A.N. from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and L.S. from NSERC (PGSD2-362406-2008).
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A.W.B.J. designed and performed experiments, analysed data, interpreted results and wrote the manuscript. L.Y. and A.N. designed and performed experiments and analysed data. L.S. and J.W. performed experiments. F.L. and M.A.R. provided new reagents and performed experiments. F.M.V.R. designed and performed experiments, interpreted results and wrote the manuscript.
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Joe, A., Yi, L., Natarajan, A. et al. Muscle injury activates resident fibro/adipogenic progenitors that facilitate myogenesis. Nat Cell Biol 12, 153–163 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2015
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2015