Adipogenesis of skeletal muscle fibro/adipogenic progenitors is affected by the WNT5a/GSK3/β-catenin axis

Cell Death Differ. 2020 Oct;27(10):2921-2941. doi: 10.1038/s41418-020-0551-y. Epub 2020 May 7.

Abstract

Fibro/Adipogenic Progenitors (FAPs) are muscle-interstitial progenitors mediating pro-myogenic signals that are critical for muscle homeostasis and regeneration. In myopathies, the autocrine/paracrine constraints controlling FAP adipogenesis are released causing fat infiltrates. Here, by combining pharmacological screening, high-dimensional mass cytometry and in silico network modeling with the integration of single-cell/bulk RNA sequencing data, we highlighted the canonical WNT/GSK/β-catenin signaling as a crucial pathway modulating FAP adipogenesis triggered by insulin signaling. Consistently, pharmacological blockade of GSK3, by the LY2090314 inhibitor, stabilizes β-catenin and represses PPARγ expression abrogating FAP adipogenesis ex vivo while limiting fatty degeneration in vivo. Furthermore, GSK3 inhibition improves the FAP pro-myogenic role by efficiently stimulating, via follistatin secretion, muscle satellite cell (MuSC) differentiation into mature myotubes. Combining, publicly available single-cell RNAseq datasets, we characterize FAPs as the main source of WNT ligands inferring their potential in mediating autocrine/paracrine responses in the muscle niche. Lastly, we identify WNT5a, whose expression is impaired in dystrophic FAPs, as a crucial WNT ligand able to restrain the detrimental adipogenic differentiation drift of these cells through the positive modulation of the β-catenin signaling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipogenesis*
  • Animals
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Muscle Development*
  • Muscle, Skeletal* / cytology
  • Muscle, Skeletal* / metabolism
  • Primary Cell Culture
  • Stem Cells
  • Wnt Signaling Pathway