Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 8, 37134 Verona, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 2;25(3):1833. doi: 10.3390/ijms25031833.
Aging is accompanied by a progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are certainly multifactorial and still remain to be fully elucidated. Changes in the cell nucleus structure and function have been considered among the possible contributing causes. This review offers an overview of the current knowledge on skeletal muscle nuclei in aging, focusing on the impairment of nuclear pathways potentially involved in age-related muscle decline. In skeletal muscle two types of cells are present: fiber cells, constituting the contractile muscle mass and containing hundreds of myonuclei, and the satellite cells, i.e., the myogenic mononuclear stem cells occurring at the periphery of the fibers and responsible for muscle growth and repair. Research conducted on different experimental models and with different methodological approaches demonstrated that both the myonuclei and satellite cell nuclei of aged skeletal muscles undergo several structural and molecular alterations, affecting chromatin organization, gene expression, and transcriptional and post-transcriptional activities. These alterations play a key role in the impairment of muscle fiber homeostasis and regeneration, thus contributing to the age-related decrease in skeletal muscle mass and function.
衰老是伴随着骨骼肌质量和力量的逐渐丧失。这种现象的机制肯定是多因素的，仍有待充分阐明。细胞核结构和功能的变化被认为是可能的促成因素之一。本综述概述了衰老骨骼肌核的现有知识，重点介绍了可能与年龄相关的肌肉衰退有关的核途径的损害。在骨骼肌中存在两种类型的细胞：纤维细胞，构成收缩性肌肉质量并包含数百个肌核，以及卫星细胞，即发生在纤维周围的肌源性单核干细胞，负责肌肉生长和修复。在不同的实验模型和不同的方法学方法上进行的研究表明，衰老骨骼肌的肌核和卫星细胞核都经历了几种结构和分子改变，影响染色质组织、基因表达以及转录和转录后活性。这些改变在损害肌肉纤维的动态平衡和再生方面起着关键作用，从而导致与年龄相关的骨骼肌质量和功能下降。
