Lack of evidence for GDF11 as a rejuvenator of aged skeletal muscle satellite cells.

Recent high-profile studies report GDF11 to be a key circulating 'anti-aging' factor. However, a screen of extracellular proteins attempting to identify factors with 'anti-aging' phenotypes in aged murine skeletal muscle satellite cells did not identify GDF11 activity. We have been unable to confirm the reported activity of GDF11, similar to other laboratories offering conflicting data and describe our attempts to do so in this short take.