Skeletal muscle-derived interstitial progenitor cells (PICs) display stem cell properties, being clonogenic, self-renewing, and multi-potent in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: The development of cellular therapies to treat muscle wastage with disease or age is paramount. Resident muscle satellite cells are not currently regarded as a viable cell source due to their limited migration and growth capability ex vivo. This study investigated the potential of muscle-derived PW1(+)/Pax7(–) interstitial progenitor cells (PICs) as a source of tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells with stem cell properties and multipotency. METHODS: Sca-1(+)/PW1(+) PICs were identified on tissue sections from hind limb muscle of 21-day-old mice, isolated by magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) technology and their phenotype and characteristics assessed over time in culture. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labelled PICs were used to determine multipotency in vivo in a tumour formation assay. RESULTS: Isolated PICs expressed markers of pluripotency (Oct3/4, Sox2, and Nanog), were clonogenic, and self-renewing with >60 population doublings, and a population doubling time of 15.8 ± 2.9 h. PICs demonstrated an ability to generate both striated and smooth muscle, whilst also displaying the potential to differentiate into cell types of the three germ layers both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, PICs did not form tumours in vivo. CONCLUSION: These findings open new avenues for a variety of solid tissue engineering and regeneration approaches, utilising a single multipotent stem cell type isolated from an easily accessible source such as skeletal muscle. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-017-0612-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.