The contribution of human synovial stem cells to skeletal muscle regeneration

Stem cell therapy holds promise for treating muscle diseases. Although satellite cells regenerate skeletal muscle, they only have a local effect after intra-muscular transplantation. Alternative cell types, more easily obtainable and systemically-deliverable, were therefore sought. Human synovial stem cells (hSSCs) have been reported to regenerate muscle fibres and reconstitute the satellite cell pool. We therefore determined if these cells are able to regenerate skeletal muscle after intra-muscular injection into cryodamaged muscles of Rag2-/gamma chain-/C5-mice. We found that hSSCs possess only limited capacity to undergo myogenic differentiation in vitro or to contribute to muscle regeneration in vivo. However, this is enhanced by over-expression of human MyoD1. Interestingly, hSSCs express extracellular matrix components laminin alpha2 and collagen VI within grafted muscles. Therefore, despite their limited capacity to regenerate skeletal muscle, hSSCs could play a role in treating muscular dystrophies secondary to defects in extracellular matrix proteins.