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.
Those Bobbitt references are really cutting it close.
Probably more like "too late to benefit you and me".
I just got on the transplant list 2 weeks ago, and got my AV fistula last week. Creatinine is 14.7 and dropping.
Duh, GFR is 14.7 and dropping; Creatinine is 4.7 and rising.
Yeah I know how you feel. I was so happy, and my Doc said my bod was doing some regenerating. Weird but boy Am I happy about it. My arterie is completely gone to, but if everything keeps on track, I won't need surgery either, pray. God works miracles. He created these great organisims called human bodies.
My fistula is doing pretty well. My fistula is below the crease of my elbow, because the vessels in my forearm are too small to put it lower. I had a lot of bruising 2 days after the surgery on my lower forearm, but I think it was because I overdid it at work that day. Yesterday, I spent time playing on the computer, and there is now a hard lump over my fistula, but it went down somewhat over night. Intermittent paresthesias, but not too bad.
What blood type are you? I'm A-, and I'm told that's not too bad a type to have for a transplant as far as wait time. O is the longest, because an O person can only receive an O organ, whereas an A can receive A or O, a B can receive B or O, and AB can receive any type. I'm told the average wait time for our area is about 1.5 years. I opted on to the "short list" (they allowed me to even though I'm 42), and I have the option to take an older kidney, but can refuse it if it's offered and I decide against it. It sounds as though each region has slightly different policies.
Good luck. Keep me updated.
So, when will they begin the experiments utilizing non-fetal cells for this research? Until then, I won't be choosing to subsidize these endeavors.
Tho it is impressive, but not at the cost of life itself.
The situation definitely has it's ups and downs, but we both need to think positive; things WILL get better. I hear ya about the restrictions, but I figure that's somewhat minor compared to the alternative. Great to hear you have a good blood type (as far as receiving organs goes).
Note that these are experiments involving mice, not humans. I understand your concern, but what appears to be happening is that in the human case researchers are finding ways around the fetal cell bottleneck by using clever chemical baths to modify mature cells. Let's hope that continues.
Have you seen or heard any follow-up?
...and isn't it just a little bit odd that someone named Katz is trying to regrow limbs in mice?
Cheers!
Most of this stuff will probably be too late for our generation, though...From Ellen Heber-Katz forecasts the future (18 Nov 2006)
I believe that the day is not far off when we will be able to prescribe drugs that cause severed spinal cords to heal, hearts to regenerate and lost limbs to regrow. People will come to expect that injured or diseased organs are meant to be repaired from within, in much the same way that we fix an appliance or automobile: by replacing the damaged part with a manufacturer-certified new part. Advances in heart regeneration are around the corner, digits will be regrown within five to ten years, and limb regeneration will occur a few years later. Central nervous system repair will occur first with the retina and optic nerve and later with the spinal cord. Within 50 years whole-body replacement will be routine.And here's a BBC article from 2006:
Mouse sheds light on regeneration (11 Apr 2006)
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