This appears to be a potentially fruitful line of research. We at
least think that we know were to look.
Obviously, natural wound restoration and limb restoration should be
completely possible, simply because we have a clear proof of concept
in a creature just as complex as we are. It will all be about
locating the switch that triggers the effect.
This takes us a lot closer. I also think that we are actually close
to a solution here, though it will come as an unexpected surprise.
In fact, I think outright managed regeneration as mainstream medicine could be a decade out. This will be a huge blessing for all of us simply because age also produces disabilities that could benefit from outright regeneration. There is coming a time in which no one will fail to live to his physical potential.
Scavenger cells
help limbs to regrow
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
An immune system cell
that helps limbs regrow in salamanders brings hope that we may
eventually be able to mimic the animal's amazing regenerative powers,
say Australian researchers.
The findings by Dr
James Godwin, of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute
at Monash University, and colleagues, are published in today's
issue of theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Salamanders (axolotls)
are unique amongst vertebrates in being able to repair their hearts,
tails, spinal cord and brain, and even regrow whole limbs during
adult life, says Godwin.
He sees their "perfect
regeneration" as a holy grail. "We're trying to work out
what the requirements are so we can unlock that potential in
mammals," he says.
Not just gobblers
He has suspected
for a while that macrophages, cells involved in the immune system,
might be important in the regeneration process.
Macrophages are a
major immune cell type which roam the tissues engulfing invaders like
bacteria and fungi, explains Godwin.
"But they're not
just involved in gobbling up debris. They actively
determine repair - for example they are important in human
muscle repair," he adds.
"So we asked the
question - are macrophages needed for limb regeneration?," he
says.
When the team got rid
of the macrophages in the salamanders, it had a "devastating
effect" on their ability to regrow limbs. The animals ended up
with fibrosis (scarring) and a stump.
Godwin believes that
chemicals released by the animals' macrophages are essential for the
regeneration process, and is conducting experiments now to
investigate this.
"This really
gives us somewhere to look for what might be secreted into the wound
environment that allows for regeneration," he says.
"The long-term
plan is that we'll know exactly what cocktail to add to a wound site
to allow salamander-like regeneration under hospital conditions."
Scar-less healing
Commenting on the
study, Dr Andràs Simon of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden says
"There has been a lot of discussion about how cells of the
immune system might impinge on the regenerative process.
"No one has
experimentally addressed this before, so in that sense it's very
important."
He says the work has
implications not just for entire limb regrowth, but for "smaller,
less ambitious" goals such as scar-less healing.
Although scars perform
a useful function in stopping blood loss and preventing infection
getting into a wound, they inhibit communication between cells and
this prevents regeneration, says Simon.
Down the track, using
the salamander's approach could maybe help with healing of burns, for
instance, he suggests.
Lost in the lottery?
But why has evolution
lost such a seemingly useful capacity as the ability to regrow a
whole limb?
Godwin says he is
speculating, but formation of scars to prevent blood loss and
infection may have been vital for mammals which are constantly on the
move.
Or we could have just
been unlucky in the "evolutionary lottery" he says.
"Sometimes things just get lost."
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