{
  "id": 3140041,
  "title": "Erosion of regenerative regulation: age-associated shifts in the skeletal muscle fiber epigenome and transcriptome",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/erosion-of-regenerative-regulation-age-associated-shifts-in-the",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-24T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.19.744884v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Skeletal muscle aging is a process that leads to a decline in muscle function, potentially resulting in frailty and sarcopenia. As the world's population grows older, understanding the mechanisms behind this phenomenon becomes increasingly crucial. However, past molecular studies on skeletal muscle aging have faced limitations due to insufficient statistical power and a lack of cell type resolution.\n\nIn an effort to address these limitations, researchers conducted a study that analyzed single-nucleus gene expression and chromatin accessibility data from 287 human skeletal muscle samples obtained from individuals aged between 20 and 79 years. This analysis was performed on samples from 13 different cell types, resulting in the identification of 384 age-associated genes and 4,061 age-associated chromatin regions.\n\nThe researchers discovered that age-associated molecular features, such as metabolic processes, cell-to-cell communication, and senescence-related KEGG terms, were enriched in these identified regions. Interestingly, the study found that age-associated closing chromatin was more prevalent across all fiber types and sexes compared to opening chromatin. This closing chromatin was particularly enriched in active enhancer regions and depleted in active transcription start sites.\n\nFurthermore, the study observed an enrichment of specific transcription factor motifs within the closing chromatin. These motifs included those associated with glucocorticoid and androgen receptors, both of which play vital roles in maintaining healthy skeletal muscle function. In conclusion, this research uncovers an age-associated regulatory shift that primarily remains undetected in conventional transcriptomic data. This shift is characterized by the closing of chromatin, which reduces accessibility to hormone receptor binding sites and enhancer regions within the muscle fiber epigenome.",
  "summary": "Skeletal muscle aging is characterized by the deterioration of muscle function, which can lead to negative quality-of-life outcomes including frailty and sarcopenia. While understanding the mechanisms of this process is increasingly important as the global population ages, previous molecular studies of skeletal muscle aging have been limited by statistical power and cell type resolution. In this…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}