We are thrilled to congratulate Hannah Chi on her paper’s publication in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Her paper, titled "Defining Endogenous Mitochondrial Transfer in Muscle After Rotator Cuff Injury", covers her groundbreaking work on a novel process that could revolutionize the treatment of rotator cuff muscle degeneration and offers hope to patients suffering from this condition.

Hannah's study aimed to investigate the horizontal transfer of mitochondria from Fibro Adipogenic Progenitors (FAPs) to myogenic cells and the effects of β-agonism on this process. Using a controlled laboratory study design, Hannah and her team performed single-cell RNA sequencing on isolated FAPs from mice with massive rotator cuff tears. They found an association between transcriptional markers of adipogenic differentiation and genes associated with mitochondrial biogenesis, suggesting a potential mechanism for how FAPs exert their beneficial effects.

Furthermore, in vitro experiments showed that treatment of FAPs with a β-agonist significantly increased mitochondrial transfer to myogenic cells. This finding was supported by in vivo studies using transgenic mice, which showed an increase in mitochondrial transfer from FAPs to myofibers in injured rotator cuffs.

The discovery of this process offers exciting possibilities for rotator cuff muscle degeneration treatment. By promoting this process with β-agonist treatment, it may be possible to improve translational therapies for patients with rotator cuff tears.

Hannah's research represents a significant step forward in our understanding of rotator cuff muscle degeneration and brings the opportunity for new, more effective treatments. Congratulations to Hannah Chi and her team on this important achievement!