Text/Chen Gen
Regenerative capacity is a biological function that humans are prohibitive of. The more advanced the life body, once the body is damaged, the worse the ability to regenerate and repair, for example, the brain cells of the human brain, as well as various important organs, basically do not have the ability to regenerate. It seems that the only people who can complete self-repair are skin, blood vessels, bones, and livers, and the rest of the organs basically have no regenerative repair function, or the repair time is very long.
However, there are a large number of organisms in nature with strong regenerative power. Planarians are the most regenerative creatures found so far, whether it is transverse, longitudinal or oblique, or cut off muscles, skin, intestinal reproductive system and even "brain", planarian wounds can heal quickly, regrow and develop, in a week or so can re-grow into several planarians.
In addition, axolotl, a Mexican salamander, is almost extinct in the wild and is also considered the "king of regeneration". The Salamander is the most popular biological model of nature in regenerative medicine research. While most salamanders have some regenerative capacity, salamanders can regenerate almost any part of the body, including the brain, heart, jaw, limbs, lungs, ovaries, spinal cord, skin, tail, and so on.
Now, focusing on the special regenerative function of salamander, experts at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, have concluded that humans also possess an "untapped" regenerative capacity. The study began by understanding why salamanders don't develop scars, including studying why salamanders don't respond to injuries the way mice and other mammals do.
The researchers found that immune cells, known as macrophages, promote the growth of salamander tissue cells but create scars in mice. The team said the formation of scars may hinder the mammals' regeneration process.
In further studies, the researchers compared the molecular signals of salamanders and adult mice after injury, and the results showed that adult mice as mammals had limited regenerative capacity. Mammals often form scars on the injured area, rather than regenerating lost or injured body parts, which creates barriers to regeneration.
Inspired by this, the researchers believe that in the future, by blocking the brain pathways that cause scarring, it may allow humans to regrow limbs that have been lost or improve overall health.
That is, solving the problem of scar formation may release this regenerative potential. This also offers the possibility of one day developing drugs that encourage humans to regenerate tissues and organs lost to disease or injury, rather than being able to reproduce organs after scarring.