Aging Muscle Fix? Blocking NDRG1 Makes Old Stem Cells Act Young Again – But There's A Catch

Aging Muscle Fix? Blocking NDRG1 Makes Old Stem Cells Act Young Again – But There's A Catch

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have identified a key reason why muscle repair slows with age. In older muscle stem cells, a protein called NDRG1 accumulates and acts as a brake on rapid regeneration, according to a study published in the journal Science. The finding reveals a biological trade-off: while NDRG1 slows activation and repair after injury, it enhances the cells’ long-term survival in the stressful environment…

Old Muscle Stem Cells Can Act Young Again with a Catch

A surprising discovery made by scientists from UCLA, published in Science, reveals that aging muscles heal more slowly due to the protein NDRG1 building up to act like a brake in older muscle stem cells, which slows the ability for the cells to go into repair mode after an injury. However, the surprise is that this protein also helps the cells survive the stresses of aging to allow them to last longer. This new study, conducted in mice, suggests…