How Well Do Mouse Models Reflect Human Muscle Aging? | Aging

Aging #published this #research paper on May 18, 2026, in Volume 18, titled “Transcriptional programs diverge in aging mouse and human skeletal muscle" by #researchers from the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA; Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, BY 80539, Germany; Department of Epidemiology, University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, Gainesville, FL. @brighamwomenshospital #aging #hypoxia #regeneration #skeletalmuscle #openaccess #openscience #PaperSpotlight #peerreview #journal #publishing #meded DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206382 Corresponding author - Indranil Sinha - isinha@bwh.harvard.edu Abstract Animal models provide a crucial scientific substrate for medical innovation, yet findings in these models do not always translate directly to humans. Although murine models are extensively employed to study skeletal muscle aging, the extent to which they diverge from the human aging process remains poorly understood. This study examined transcriptional changes with aging in mouse and human skeletal muscle. RNA bulk-sequencing was performed on gastrocnemius muscles from young and old C57BL/6 mice and compared to transcriptomic data from young and old healthy human vastus lateralis muscles obtained from the GESTALT study (NIA/NIH) via the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Cross-species comparison revealed substantial divergence in age-associated transcriptional profiles, with fewer than 5% of significant GO and KEGG terms shared between species. Hypoxia signaling, VEGFA, and inflammatory pathways showed concordant downregulation with aging in both species; however, angiogenesis, neurogenesis, and myogenesis demonstrated opposing or non-significant trends. These findings caution against direct extrapolation of murine aging transcriptomics to human skeletal muscle biology, though select conserved pathways may represent viable cross-species targets for future investigation. Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.206382 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Aging - https://www.aging-us.com/subscribe-to-toc-alerts Keywords - hypoxia, angiogenesis, aging, skeletal muscle, regeneration To learn more about the journal, please visit https://www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us on social media at: Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/aging-us.bsky.social ResearchGate - https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Aging-1945-4589 X - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/AgingUS/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Aging-US Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1X4HQQgegjReaf6Mozn6Mc MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM