We investigated the effect of aging on the basement membrane (BM) during postinjury muscle recovery. Using a rat model, we found that aging delayed muscle fiber and BM recovery. In addition, expression of BM-related factors peaked 7 days after muscle injury among both young and older rats. Peak expression of collagen IV synthetic factors decreased with age, whereas expression of the degradative factor was unaffected by age. These results suggest that age-related delays in postinjury muscle fiber and BM recovery may be related to the suppression of collagen IV synthetic factors.
Keywords: aging; basement membrane; collagen IV; muscle injury; recovery; skeletal muscle.
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japanese Society of Microscopy.