Early life exposure to preterm birth-related conditions induces an aged-like microenvironment that has long-lasting consequences on muscle stem cell function and regenerative capacity

Preterm birth is associated with comorbidities and long-lasting effect on the function of many organs such as skeletal muscle. Muscle injury resulted in signs of impaired regeneration such as reduced myogenic cell number, lower myonuclear accretion, smaller myofibers, and reduced force. We used Single cell RNA-seq (sc RNA-seq) to understand the mechanisms underlying the alteration of muscle stem cells after exposure to preterm birth related-conditions. Rat pups (Sprague-Dawnley) were exposed to 80% of oxygen from 3 to 10 days of life to mimics preterm birth-related conditions (OI=oxygen induced-injury). Control (CTRL) pups were maintained in room air. Muscle cells were isolated from hind limb muscle (left and right) from 4 males rat at 4 weeks of age (2 CTRL and 2 OI) and cell suspension was sorted using Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). The 4 cell samples were multiplexed using CMO probes and process together in one run (Cell multiplexing) of single-cell RNAseq using 10X Genomics Cellplex 3' GEX v3.1.