Skeletal muscle stem cells for muscle regeneration

Abstract

Adult skeletal muscle possesses remarkable regenerative capacity. Muscle regeneration is mediated by a rare population of muscle stem cells that reside between the basal lamina and sarcolemma of muscle fibers. Due to their anatomical location, muscle stem cells have been coined satellite cells. Here, we describe a method that we routinely use to isolate large and pure populations of satellite cells from skeletal muscles enabling studies on autonomous properties of satellite cells to unravel the role of muscle stem cells in tissue regeneration.