Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the identity and function of fibro/adipogenic progenitors in healthy and dystrophic muscle

Fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) are skeletal muscle stromal cells that support regeneration of injured myofibers and their maintenance in healthy muscles. FAPs are related to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs/MeSCs) found in other adult tissues, but there is poor understanding of the extent of similarity between these cells. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) datasets from multiple mouse tissues, we have performed comparative transcriptomic analysis. This identified remarkable transcriptional similarity between FAPs and MeSCs, confirmed the suitability of PDGFR alpha as a reporter for FAPs, and identified extracellular proteolysis as a new FAP function. Using PDGFR alpha as a cell surface marker, we isolated FAPs from healthy and dysferlinopathic mouse muscles and performed scRNA-seq analysis. This revealed decreased FAP-mediated Wnt signaling as a potential driver of FAP dysfunction in dysferlinopathic muscles. Analysis of FAPs in dysferlin-and dystrophin-deficient muscles identified a relationship between the nature of muscle pathology and alteration in FAP gene expression.