Asymmetric division of clonal muscle stem cells coordinates muscle regeneration in vivo

TLDR

Satellite cells repair muscle after injury by dividing asymmetrically, yet their in vivo behavior remains poorly understood. The study used zebrafish larvae’s optical clarity and genetic tools to investigate muscle injury and satellite cell behavior. Following injury, satellite cells asymmetrically divide to produce progenitors while self‑renewing, producing highly clonal regeneration that confirms long‑standing in vitro findings. Gurevich et al., Science, p.

Abstract

Dividing asymmetrically to fix muscle Resident tissue stem cells called satellite cells repair muscle after injury. However, how satellite cells operate inside living tissue is unclear. Gurevich et al. exploited the optical clarity of zebrafish larvae and used a series of genetic approaches to study muscle injury. After injury, satellite cells divide asymmetrically to generate a progenitor pool for muscle replacement and at the same time “self-renew” the satellite stem cell. This results in regeneration that is highly clonal in nature, validating many decades of in vitro analyses examining the regenerative capacity of skeletal muscle. Science , this issue p. 136