inflammatory molecule essential to muscle regeneration in mice, researchers find
Treating laboratory mice with a dose of the molecule, a lipid metabolite called prostaglandin E2, just after injury accelerates the animals' ability to repair the damage and regain muscle strength, the researchers reported. However, a nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drug like aspirin or ibuprofen -- drugs frequently taken to reduce the muscle soreness after injury or exercise -- blocked production of the metabolite and dramatically inhibited muscle repair in the mice, leading to diminished strength. "Traditionally, inflammation has been considered a natural, but sometimes harmful, response to injury," said Helen Blau, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology and director of Stanford's Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology. "But we wondered whether there might be a component in the pro-inflammatory signaling cascade that also stimulated muscle repair. We found that a single exposure to prostaglandin E2 has a profound effect on the proliferation of mus...