Reversing Skeletal Aging by Restoring Functional Skeletal Stem Cell Diversity

The project aims to delineate age-related changes in skeletal stem cell (SSC) diversity and functional heterogeneity impacting skeletal integrity, utilizing spatiotemporal single cell analysis to define anatomical changes of SSCs and their niche interactions (Aim 1). It will also examine the mechanism of stem cell-based skeletal aging through Wisp2, hypothesizing its role in regulating SSC diversity and heterogeneity, and address age-dependent epigenetic drift and its connection to adverse clonal skeletogenesis. The project will identify the Wisp2 receptor in SSCs using proximity-dependent labeling to uncover targetable pathways.