Aging muscles can do a better job of repairing themselves, researchers have learned. All they need is some young blood. A study in the February 17 issue of Nature shows that it’s old blood that impedes healing of damaged muscle tissue, not the aging muscles themselves. The study, led by Thomas Rando, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, built on previous work showing that old muscles have the capacity to repair themselves but fail to do so. Rando and his group studied specialized cells called “satellite cells,” the muscle stem cells that dot muscle tissue. These normally lie dormant but come to the rescue when damage occurs -- at least they do in young mice and humans.
