Inflammation sends old muscle stem cells into a rusty meltdown

Abstract

Skeletal muscle stem cells (MuSCs) are responsible for muscle repair and regeneration. Aging is associated with a decline in the number and function of MuSCs, a phenomenon that has been attributed to MuSC-intrinsic and MuSC-extrinsic factors. However, the relationship between these factors is yet to be fully defined. Here, Blanc and colleagues show that inflammation promotes epigenetic silencing in MuSCs via the KMT5A–H4K20me1 axis, which results in ferroptosis (a form of iron-dependent cell death).