Pericyte Cell Therapy Promotes Muscle Regrowth Following Atrophy in Mice

Researchers here show that boosting the numbers of the pericyte cell population involved in vascular system growth and activity improves restoration of muscle mass following atrophy. This is particularly interesting in the context of the fact that capillary vessel networks decline in density in tissues with age, the processes of maintenance and blood vessel construction becoming disarrayed, and that this decline is thought to contribute to age-related loss of muscle mass and strength. Muscle is an energy-hungry tissue, and we might thus expect that factors relating to delivery of nutrients and oxygen via the vascular network have some impact on its maintenance and growth. That point is demonstrated here. By injecting cells that support blood vessel growth into muscles depleted by inactivity, researchers say they are able to help restore muscle mass lost as a result of immobility. The research, conducted in adult mice, involved injections of cells called pericytes, which are known to promote blood vessel growth and dilation in tissues throughout the body. The injections occurred at the end of a two-week period during which the mice were prevented from contracting the muscles in one of their hind legs. "Just as the mice were becoming mobile again, we transplanted the pericytes and we found that there was full recovery of both muscle mass and the vasculature, too." The team also observed that muscle immobility itself led to a significant decline in the abundance ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs