ular basis of the myogenic profile of aged human skeletal muscle satellite cells during differentiation. Experimental Gerontology, Elsevier, 2009, 44 (8) This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 2 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT AbstractSarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function. Human muscle proteins are synthesized at a slower rate in the elderly than in young adults, leading to atrophy and muscle mass loss with a decline in the functional capability. Additionally, aging is accompanied by a decrease in the ability of muscle tissue to regenerate following injury or overuse due to the impairment of intervening satellite cells, in which we previously reported oxidative damage evidences. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of aging on myoblasts and myotubes obtained from human skeletal muscle, and characterize the transcriptional profile as molecular expression patterns in relation to age-dependent modifications in their regenerative capacity. Our data show that the failure to differentiate does not depend on reduced myogenic cell number, but difficulty to complete the differentiation program. Data reported here suggested the following findings: i) oxidative damage accumulation in molecular substrates, probably due to impaired antioxidant activity and insufficient repair capability, ii) limited capability of elderly myoblasts to execute a complete differentiation program; restricted fusion, possibly due to altered cytoskeleton turnover and extracellular matrix degradation, and iii) activation of atrophy mechanism by activation of a specific FOXO-dependent program.

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During aging, skeletal muscles show reduced mass and functional capacity largely due to loss of the regenerative ability of satellite cells (SCs), the quiescent stem cells located beneath the basal lamina surrounding each myofiber. While both the external environment and intrinsic properties of SCs appear to contribute to the age-related SC deficiency, the latter ones have been poorly investigated especially in humans. In the present work, we analyzed several parameters of SCs derived from biopsies of vastus lateralis muscle from healthy non-trained young (28.7±5.9 years; n=10) and aged (77.3±6.4 years; n= 11) people. Compared with young SCs, aged SCs showed impaired differentiation when cultured in differentiation medium, and exhibited the following: (1) reduced proliferation; (2) higher expression levels of S100B, a negative regulator of myoblast differentiation; (3) undetectable levels in growth medium of fulllength RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation end products), a multiligand receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily, the engagement of which enhances myoblast differentiation; and (4) lower expression levels of the transcription factors, MyoD and Pax7. Also, either overexpression of full-length RAGE or knockdown of S100B in aged SCs resulted in enhanced differentiation, while overexpression of either a nontransducing mutant of RAGE (RAGEΔcyto) or S100B in young SCs resulted in reduced differentiation compared with controls. Moreover, while aged SCs maintained the ability to respond to mitogenic factors (e.g., bFGF and S100B), they were no longer able to secrete these factors, unlike young SCs. These data support a role for intrinsic factors, besides the extracellular environment in the defective SC function in aged skeletal muscles.

Satellite cells that reside on the myofibre surface are crucial for the muscle homeostasis and regeneration. Aging goes along with a less effective regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue mainly due to the decreased myogenic capability of satellite cells. This phenomenon impedes proper maintenance and contributes to the age-associated decline in muscle mass, known as sarcopenia. The myogenic potential impairment does not depend on a reduced myogenic cell number, but mainly on their difficulty to complete a differentiation program. The unbalanced production of reactive oxygen species in elderly people could be responsible for skeletal muscle impairments. microRNAs are conserved post-transcriptional regulators implicated in numerous biological processes including adult myogenesis. Here, we measure the ROS level and analyze myomiR (miR-1, miR-133b and miR-206) expression in human myogenic precursors obtained from Vastus lateralis of elderly and young subjects to provide the molecular signature responsible for the differentiation impairment of elderly activated satellite cells.

The aim of this study was to determine whether neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) affects skeletal muscle regeneration through a reduction of oxidative status in satellite cells of healthy elderly subjects. Satellite cells from the vastus lateralis skeletal muscle of 12 healthy elderly subjects before and after 8 wk of NMES were allowed to proliferate to provide myogenic populations of adult stem cells [myogenic precursor cells (MPCs)]. These MPCs were then investigated in terms of their proliferation, their basal cytoplasmic free Ca concentrations, and their expression of myogenic regulatory factors (, and ) and micro-RNAs (miR-1, miR-133a/b, and miR-206). The oxidative status of these MPCs was evaluated through superoxide anion production and superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities. On dissected single skeletal myofibers, the nuclei were counted to determine the myonuclear density, the fiber phenotype, cross-sectional area, and tension developed. The MPCs obtained after NMES showed increased proliferation rates along with increased cytoplasmic free Ca concentrations and gene expression of and on MPCs. Muscle-specific miR-1, miR-133a/b, and miR-206 were upregulated. This NMES significantly reduced superoxide anion production, along with a trend to reduction of superoxide dismutase activity. The NMES-dependent stimulation of muscle regeneration enhanced satellite cell fusion with mature skeletal fibers. NMES improved the regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle in elderly subjects. Accordingly, the skeletal muscle strength and mobility of NMES-stimulated elderly subjects significantly improved. NMES may thus be further considered for clinical or ageing populations. The neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) effect on skeletal muscle regeneration was assessed in healthy elderly subjects for the first time. NMES improved the regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle through increased myogenic precursor cell proliferation and fusion with mature myofibers. The increased cytoplasmic free Ca concentration along with ,, and micro-RNA upregulation could be related to reduced O production, which, in turn, favors myogenic regeneration. Accordingly, the skeletal muscle strength of NMES-stimulated lower limbs of healthy elderly subjects improved along with their mobility.