Figures and data

The YFP+ cells from Pax7CreERT2;RosaYFP mice do not decrease with age.
(A) Scheme of MuSC labeling in Pax7CreERT2;RosaYFP mice (MuSCYFP) and analysis at middle (Mid) and geriatric age (Geri) using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) strategy for isolation of YFP+ MuSCs using traditional marker, VCAM1. (B, C) Representative plot and quantification for VCAM1+ MuSCs (B) and YFP+ cells (C) in lineage negative (Lin−) cells of Young (n=6 and n=8 each), Mid (n = 7, n = 8, each) and Geri (n = 6, n = 11, each) MuSCYFP, Welch’s t test and F-test; p = 0.0441 and 0.0460 for (B), respectively. (D) Representative FACS histogram and quantification of VCAM1 and ITGA7 expression in YFP+ cells of Mid and Geri MuSCYFP. Quantification of relative VCAM1 and ITGA7 mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) in YFP+ cells of Mid (n = 12, n = 6, each) and Geri (n = 14, n = 8, each) MuSCYFP, Welch’s t test and F-test; p = 0.0009 and <0.0001. (E) Representative images and quantification of immunohistochemistry staining for Hoechst (Blue), YFP (Green), PAX7 (Yellow), and Laminin (Red) in the Tibialis Anterior (TA) of MuSCYFP. Arrows indicate PAX7+/YFP+ cells and arrowheads indicate PAX7−/YFP+ cells under basal lamina. Quantification of the number of Pax7+/YFP+ and PAX7−/YFP+ cells from IHC staining of TA in Mid (n = 7) and Geri (n = 9) MuSCYFP, two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test, PAX7+/YFP+; p = 0.0205, PAX7-/YFP+; p = 0.0051. (F) Division of YFP+ cells according to their VCAM1 MFI as VCAM1High (VH), VCAM1Low (VL), and VCAM1Neg (V−) followed by representative images and quantification of immunocytochemistry (ICC) staining for Hoechst (Blue), PAX7 (Red) of YFP+ cells. VCAM1 low and negative MuSCs represent approximately 44.6% ± 35.7%, whereas VCAM1 high MuSCs represent 3.9% ± 1.8%. Quantification of PAX7 fluorescence intensity from isolated YFP+ cells of Mid VH, Geri VH, V− (n = 5, each), and VL (n=6), one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test; p = 0.0004 (vs Mid VH), and 0.0179, 0.0123 (Geri VH vs VL, V−, respectively).

YFP+/VCAM1− cells are quiescent MuSCs.
(A) Representative FACS plot for YFP+ cells from uninjured Mid and Geri, and injured-5dpi young (20-weeks-old) mice. (B, C) Representative images (B) of ICC staining for Hoechst (Blue) and MYOG (Red), and quantification (C) of MYOG+ cells in each YFP+ cell, one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test; p = 0.0139 between YFP+ cells of injured-5dpi and Mid VH. While 5 dpi MuSCs differed significantly from young MuSCs (adjusted p = 0.0139), the comparisons between 5 dpi and each geriatric subgroup (VCAM-high, -mid, and -low) did not reach statistical significance after correction for multiple testing (adjusted p = 0.17, 0.15, and 0.17, respectively). (D) Uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) plot of YFP+ cells integrated with public scRNA-seq data of MuSC-lineage mononucleated cells in uninjured/injured muscle colored by cell types. (E) Matrix plot for representative genes of specific cell types for determining the identities of each cluster. (F) The localization of Mid and Geri YFP+ cells in this study on UMAP plot of Fig. 2D.

Compromised but retained functionality in VCAM1− MuSCs.
(A) Representative bright field images of Mid VH, Geri VH, VL, and V− MuSCs at 7 days culture in MuSC growth media. (B) Proliferation measured by relative cell number at 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days, two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test; p = 0.0029 and 0.0002 (Mid VH vs VL and V−, respectively) and p= 0.0102 and 0.0006 (Geri VH vs VL and V−, respectively). For each sample, 30,000 MuSCs were plated at day 0, with 3 biological replicates per condition. (C) Experimental schematics of transplantation of YFP+ cells to TA muscle of Pax7CreERT2;RosaDTAmice. (D, E) Representative images of IHC staining for Hoechst (Blue) and Laminin (Red) in PBS treated TA muscle section following injury. (D) Left side of the dotted line show areas affected by BaCl2 injury and right side shows uninjured areas of the muscle. (E) IHC staining shows centralized myofibers in all images, with notably smaller myofibers in Geri V−. (F) Quantification of cross-sectional area (CSA) of regenerated fibers from TA muscle of Pax7CreERT2;RosaDTAmice transplanted with Mid VH, Geri VH, VL, and V− at 21 dpi, n = 3 for each group. For each mouse, the entire TA muscle was cryosectioned and immunostained, and all regenerated fibers containing centrally located nuclei were included in the CSA quantification. Total 43 data points are outside of the axis. Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test; p < 0.0001 (Mid and Geri VH vs V−) and p = 0.0059 (Mid VH vs Geri VL), 0.0149 (Geri VH vs VL) and 0.0143 (Geri VL vs V−).

Senescence characteristics of VCAM1−/YFP+ cells and their rejuvenation by DHT supplementation.
(A) The statistical significance of Kyoto-Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, associated with differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between Mid VH and Geri VH, VL and V−, visualized as a heatmap. (B) Heatmap of relative expressions of representative genes known to be altered in aged MuSCs compared to Mid VH. (C) Experimental schematics of senolytics, dasatinib and quercetin (DQ), treatment in MuSCYFP at geriatric age and representative FACS histogram of VCAM1 expression Mid, Geri, and Geri treated with SL (Geri+DQ) mice. (D) Representative FACS plots and quantification of the percentage of VCAM1High and VCAM1Low/− cells divided by VCAM1 expression levels in Mid (n = 8) and Geri mice with (n = 5) or without (n = 11) senolytics, 2 tailed student’s t test, p = 0.0051 for Mid vs Geri in VCAM1High and F test: p = 0.0026 for Geriatric vs Geriatric+DQ in VCAM1Low/–. (E) Experimental schematics of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) treatment and FACS plot of VCAM1 expression levels for YFP+ cells in MuSCYFP. (F) Experimental schematics of DQ and DHT treatment and quantification of the percentage of VCAM1High MuSCs in Live/Lin– cells in Mid and Geri B6 mice (n = 4 in each), 2 tailed student’s t test, p = 0.0113 for Young vs Geri+DQ+T.

Detection of GERI-MuSCs using CD63/CD200-based FACS strategy.
(A) Vann Diagram schematics showing criteria used to select MuSC marker candidate CD63 and CD200, from RNA seq database. (B) Relative gene expressions of Cd63 and Cd200 shown in RPKMs from Mid VH, Geri VH, VL, and V− MuSCs. (C, D) Representative IHC staining images for Hoechst (Blue), Laminin (Green), PAX7 (Yellow) with CD63 (red, C) or CD200 (red, D) in the TA muscle of Mid MuSCYFP. (E) Representative FACS plot from young mice showing 96.3% of VCAM1+/YFP+ cells are CD63high/CD200high. (F) Left: representative FACS plot from young mice showing 93.2% of CD63high/CD200high cells are VCAM1+/YFP+, and ICC staining of this population shows that 96.5±2.8% are PAX7+. Right: representative FACS plot of MuSCs of B6 Mid and Geri mice gated by CD63 and CD200 and their VCAM1 expression level.
