IRBM publishes in Nature Scientific Reports on the Janus effect of glucocorticoids on the differentiation of muscle fibro/adipogenic progenitors

Fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) are known to cause muscle impairment in non-physiological settings, such as aging and myopathies,  by promoting fibrosis and fat infiltration.  IRBM and their collaborators at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, screened a library of 1,120 FDA/EMEA approved drugs using high content screening (HCS) to identify potential inhibitors of adipogenic differentiation of FAPs. The resulting hits contained a remarkable number of glucocorticoids  (GCs) – drugs known to promote adipogenesis. Three of the GCs identified by the screen were further investigated by different approaches. The findings showed that GCs have additional effects to their known anti-inflammatory properties,  affecting muscle homeostasis and physiology.