Muscle Fiber- and Cell Type-Specificity of Training Adaptation in Male Mice

Abstract

Skeletal muscle possesses extraordinary plasticity of structure, metabolism, and function in response to repeated contractile activity. As a syncytium embedded within a complex microenvironment, muscle relies on the coordination of distinct myonuclear populations and diverse mononucleated cell types. Here, we present a high-resolution single-nucleus RNA-sequencing atlas of 550000 skeletal muscle nuclei, capturing the longitudinal transcriptional responses of 17 distinct myonuclear and 21 mononuclear cell populations at multiple time points after one bout of exhaustive exercise in trained and sedentary mice. The transcriptional programs of these populations are further shaped by training status into divergent adaptive trajectories. A subset of oxidative myonuclei enters a delayed regenerative state post-exercise, reflecting a bifurcated response to a disproportionate metabolic load on fibers during endurance exercise. Prior training accelerates homeostatic recovery and shields oxidative nuclei from exacerbated damage signatures. In parallel, mononucleated cells emerge as the primary mediators of intercellular communication during recovery. Together, this dataset establishes that training adaptation emerges through a coordinated interplay of intrinsic adaptive programs of multicellular remodeling, and provides a foundational resource for mechanistic insights into muscle plasticity.