Tanya Lewis, LiveScience Staff Writer
Date: 20 May 2013 Time: 03:00 PM ET
Salamanders can regrow entire limbs and regenerate parts of major organs, an ability that relies on their immune systems, research now shows.
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| axolotl |
A study of the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), an aquatic salamander, reveals that immune cells called macrophages are critical in the early stages of regenerating lost limbs. Wiping out these cells permanently prevented regeneration and led to tissue scarring. The findings hint at possible strategies for tissue repair
in humans.
in humans.
"We can look to salamanders as a template of what perfect regeneration looks like," lead study author James Godwin said in a statement. "We need to know exactly what salamanders do and how they do it well, so we can reverse-engineer that into human therapies," added Goodwin, of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University in Melbourne.
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