Posted on 09/01/2005 4:12:01 AM PDT by snarks_when_bored
It's a miracle: mice regrow hearts
And when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate, the US-based researchers say.
Their discoveries raise the prospect that humans could one day be given the ability to regenerate lost or damaged organs, opening up a new era in medicine.
Details of the research will be presented next week at a scientific conference on ageing titled Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, at Cambridge University in Britain.
The research leader, Ellen Heber-Katz, professor of immunology at the Wistar Institute, a US biomedical research centre, said the ability of the mice at her laboratory to regenerate organs appeared to be controlled by about a dozen genes.
Professor Heber-Katz says she is still researching the genes' exact functions, but it seems almost certain humans have comparable genes.
"We have experimented with amputating or damaging several different organs, such as the heart, toes, tail and ears, and just watched them regrow," she said.
"It is quite remarkable. The only organ that did not grow back was the brain.
"When we injected fetal liver cells taken from those animals into ordinary mice, they too gained the power of regeneration. We found this persisted even six months after the injection."
Professor Heber-Katz made her discovery when she noticed the identification holes that scientists punch in the ears of experimental mice healed without any signs of scarring in the animals at her laboratory.
The self-healing mice, from a strain known as MRL, were then subjected to a series of surgical procedures. In one case the mice had their toes amputated -- but the digits grew back, complete with joints.
In another test some of the tail was cut off, and this also regenerated. Then the researchers used a cryoprobe to freeze parts of the animals' hearts, and watched them grow back again. A similar phenomenon was observed when the optic nerve was severed and the liver partially destroyed.
The researchers believe the same genes could confer greater longevity and are measuring their animals' survival rate. However, the mice are only 18 months old, and the normal lifespan is two years so it is too early to reach firm conclusions.
Scientists have long known that less complex creatures have an impressive ability to regenerate. Many fish and amphibians can regrow internal organs or even whole limbs. The Sunday Times
29aug05
SCIENTISTS have created "miracle mice" that can regenerate amputated limbs or damaged vital organs, making them able to recover from injuries that would kill or permanently disable normal animals.
The experimental animals are unique among mammals in their ability to regrow their heart, toes, joints and tail.
So nerve regeneration may be as yet out of reach.
If that is the case then a regenerated limb would be pretty useless.
Yep.
Er, was this mouse by any chance raised in a SuperMarket?
Spinal cord regeneration?
From this Heber-Katz link:
Spinal cord Regeneration: The Heber-Katz laboratory has been examining the regenerative response of the spinal cord as well. Most recently, they found scar tissue is a key blocking element in axonal regrowth. Thus, spinal cord transection where fibroblastic infiltrates are kept to a minimum results in recovery of function or coordinated walking within 3 weeks. They are testing various molecules that can block scar formation to determine its effect on healing and function. One such molecule, apolipoprotein E, along with its receptors, appears to be upregulated during a regenerative response.
Good point. I might be awake in another hour or two.
I understand evolution. Don't be too literal here. I was referring to the way life has progressed over aeons and how it could progress in a directed positive manner by further understanding the fact of evolution and making best use of those findings.
Two women happen to be following Lorena Bobbitt in their car.
Lorena throws John's member out the window and it hits the women's windshield.
Martha, " What was that?"
Earlene," I don't know what kind of bug it was but did you see the ---- on that thing?"
Which indicates possible success in treatment within the first days after trauma, but not for old injuries. Thanks for the info.
I told you so. ;^)
Tell that to those paraplegics with severed spinal cords who can now walk due to never cell regeneration. The docs use nasal stem cells. It takes about three years.
I meant 'based on this research'. Your point is well-taken.
For what? A heart or new hair?
NeverGore :^)
Genesis Chapter 11:
6: And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7: Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
I know someone that did happen to........
My last angioplasty showed that my body was doing it's own bypass.
Play it up and save the how for later.. disgusting.
That's not unusual.
The body, as does any living creature, attempts to adapt to any situation to the best of its ability.
My last angioplasty showed that my body was doing it's own bypass.
Yikes. Glad you got the news...
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