The transcription Factor Slug represses p16Ink4a and regulates murine muscle stem cell aging. The transcription Factor Slug represses p16Ink4a and regulates murine muscle stem cell aging

Sustainable muscle regeneration necessitates proper maintenance of the quiescence-reversible SCs pool. Activation of p16Ink4a-associated senescence pathway during aging breaks muscle homeostasis and causes degenerative muscle disease by irreversibly dampening satellite cell (SC) self-renewal capacity. We performed microarrays analysis to compare the genome-wide gene expression profiles of wild-type and Slug-deficient SCs and identified distinct classes of up-regulated genes upon deletion of Slug gene. Overall design: Quiescent SCs were collected by FACS sorting of CD45-Sca1-CD11b-CD31-CD34+Integrin-α7+ cell population in mononucleated cells prepared from hindlimb muslces of adult wildtype and Slug knockout mice, respectively. RNA was extracted for Affymetrix microarrays analysis.