High-Yield Purification, Preservation, and Serial Transplantation of Human Satellite Cells.

Investigation of human muscle regeneration requires robust methods to purify and transplant muscle stem and progenitor cells that collectively constitute the human satellite cell (HuSC) pool. Existing approaches have yet to make HuSCs widely accessible for researchers, and as a result human muscle stem cell research has advanced slowly. Here, we describe a robust and predictable HuSC purification process that is effective for each human skeletal muscle tested and the development of storage protocols and transplantation models in dystrophin-deficient and wild-type recipients.

The human ARF tumor suppressor senses blastema activity and suppresses epimorphic tissue regeneration.

The control of proliferation and differentiation by tumor suppressor genes suggests that evolution of divergent tumor suppressor repertoires could influence species' regenerative capacity. To directly test that premise, we humanized the zebrafish p53 pathway by introducing regulatory and coding sequences of the human tumor suppressor ARF into the zebrafish genome. ARF was dormant during development, in uninjured adult fins, and during wound healing, but was highly expressed in the blastema during epimorphic fin regeneration after amputation.

Human Satellite Cell Transplantation and Regeneration from Diverse Skeletal Muscles.

Identification of human satellite cells that fulfill muscle stem cell criteria is an unmet need in regenerative medicine. This hurdle limits understanding how closely muscle stem cell properties are conserved among mice and humans and hampers translational efforts in muscle regeneration. Here, we report that PAX7 satellite cells exist at a consistent frequency of 2-4 cells/mm of fiber in muscles of the human trunk, limbs, and head.