Chaudhry, NabihaThiagarajan, AparnaChan, Sunny2023-09-182023-09-182023https://hdl.handle.net/11299/256934Muscle stem cells (MuSCs) play a crucial role in muscle regeneration following injuries, making them promising targets for cell-based therapies to treat muscular dystrophies. MuSCs’ self-renewal ability not only maintains the stem cell pool, but also generates myogenic cells, which proliferate, differentiate, and fuse to form myofibers, restoring functional muscle tissue. MuSC behavior during regeneration is tightly regulated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors present in the muscle stem cell niche. Our study aims to explore the regulatory potential of Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitors (FAPs), a niche cell type, on MuSC self-renewal ability. Methods involved isolating MuSCs from GFP-mice hindlimbs and FAPs from four individual muscle groups using Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS). Cells were cultured in myogenic differentiation medium, and their differentiation potential was assessed through morphological changes, FACS analysis, and immunostaining. Preliminary results indicated a significantly higher percentage of MuSCs relative to myogenic progenitors in the co-culture with FAPs, whereas in the control well, both cell types were present in approximately equal proportions. Our findings provide evidence supporting the current theories that FAPs play a pivotal role in the regulation of MuSC behavior during the process of muscle regeneration. Further research in this area could uncover additional niche cell types and their effects on MuSC behavior, potentially leading to the development of novel therapeutic approaches to enhance muscle regeneration and functional recovery.enPresentation