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Review
. 2025 May 26;15(6):765.
doi: 10.3390/biom15060765.

Muscle Stem Cell Microenvironment and Functions in Muscle Regeneration

Wenjing Li  1 , Minyou Chen  2 , Lingli Zhang  2
Affiliations
Review

Muscle Stem Cell Microenvironment and Functions in Muscle Regeneration

Wenjing Li et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) are the key to muscle regeneration. The activation and maintenance of MuSCs require the precise regulation of their microenvironments. Myofibers and other cells including endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and immune cell populations constitute the cell components of the MuSC niche. The communication between these cell populations and MuSCs play an essential role in muscle repair. Furthermore, the physical and chemical stimulations around MuSCs also affect the cell behaviors of MuSCs. Extracellular matrix (ECM) and the factors stored in it generate a repair-promoting niche for efficient muscle regeneration. Understanding the mechanism of muscle stem cell regulation is the basis of clinically optimizing muscle repair. In this review, we discuss recent findings about the microenvironments of MuSCs and their functions in muscle regeneration, which would shed light on new targets and strategies for muscle injury treatment.

Keywords: function; microenvironment; muscle regeneration; muscle stem cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors state that they have no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cell behaviors of MuSCs after muscle injury. MuSCs go through symmetric division to maintain the stem cell pool. On the other hand, the differentiation and migration of MuSCs are needed to give rise to the cells for muscle regeneration. (Created with BioGDP.com [37]).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Microenvironments of MuSCs. Cells including myofibers, endothelial cells, pericytes, FAPs, fibroblasts, and immune cells, etc. generate the cellular niche of MuSCs. Non-cellular factors such as the ECM, mechanical signals, and oxygen also contribute to the microenvironment of MuSCs. (Created with BioGDP.com [37]).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The factors in the microenvironment that regulate cell behaviors of MuSCs. Treg, regulatory T cell. (Created with BioGDP.com [37]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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