Reduced muscle strength and mass is one of the hallmarks of physiological aging in humans and can result in severe impairment of the quality of life. In part this is caused by a functional loss of the highly specialized muscle stem cells (MuSCs), which in healthy conditions provide maintenance, growth, and regeneration. Recent progress in understanding of the stem cell niche and results from single cell technologies reveal exciting insights at unprecedented detail into MuSCs and muscle biology during aging. Here, we review this field and discuss the implications of current findings with a focus on cellular reprogramming approaches as a novel therapeutic avenue for age-related muscle decline.

肌肉力量和质量下降是人类生理衰老的标志之一，可能导致生活质量严重受损。部分原因是高度特化的肌肉干细胞 (MuSC) 功能丧失所致，在健康条件下，肌肉干细胞负责维持、生长和再生。对干细胞生态位的理解和单细胞技术的最新进展揭示了对衰老过程中 MuSC 和肌肉生物学前所未有的细节的令人兴奋的见解。在这里，我们回顾了这一领域并讨论了当前研究结果的影响，重点关注细胞重编程方法作为与年龄相关的肌肉衰退的一种新的治疗途径。