GSDME/IL-18 pyroptotic axis prevents myosteatosis by expanding tissue-resident macrophages to promote muscle regeneration

Metabolic-inflammatory crosstalk orchestrates muscle repair. Although pyroptosis typically aggravates sterile injury, we demonstrated that GSDME-dependent pyroptotic signaling associated with recruited myeloid cells paradoxically supported regeneration. GSDME expression was induced in post-surgical human muscle injury and murine damage models. Gsdme deficiency delayed functional recovery and exacerbated injury-induced myosteatosis, a pathological form of intramuscular ectopic fat deposition. Time-series and single-cell RNA-sequencing analyses revealed that GSDME loss shifted the transcriptional program from oxidative metabolism toward lipid storage and adipogenesis. Lipidomics confirmed aberrant accumulation of triacylglycerols and sphingolipids in Gsdme -deficient muscle. Single-cell profiling further identified divergent fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) states skewed toward adipogenesis, accompanied by impaired expansion of restorative Lyve1⁺Cd163⁺Txnip⁺ tissue-resident macrophages (TRMs)—validated by multiplex flow cytometry. Blocking CCR2-dependent monocyte recruitment produced regenerative defects comparable to those caused by Gsdme deficiency. Myeloid-specific Gsdme reintroduction rescued TRM expansion and function, curbed FAP adipogenic reprogramming, whereas FAP-specific expression proved ineffective. Mechanistically, IL-18 downstream of GSDME-dependent signaling engaged KLF4/JUN signaling in TRMs, sustaining their reparative and lipid-clearing capacity. This GSDME–IL-18–TRMs axis was compromised in aged muscle, yet exogenous IL-18 reversed myosteatosis and accelerated regeneration. Together, these findings suggest that GSDME-dependent pyroptotic signaling can act as a metabolic checkpoint that sustains TRM-driven lipid homeostasis to support muscle regeneration.