Chinese scientists find clue to bone regrowth in deer antler study
Deer are the only mammals capable of fully regenerating a complete organ – the antler – which can regrow at a phenomenal rate of 2.75cm (roughly 1 inch) per day.
Many lower-order vertebrates have retained the ability – axolotl regenerate complex limbs such as legs many times over their lives – but mammals have largely lost the capacity, according to Li Chunyi, co-author of a new study.Li, a professor at Changchun Sci-Tech University, said regeneration took time, making it a disadvantage for both predators and herbivores, and had gradually disappeared through evolution.
Scientists have carried out numerous studies on deer antlers, hoping to uncover the mechanism behind the regrowth and apply the results in regenerative medicine. For a long time, they believed the process would be the same as in lower vertebrates.
But after 40 years of research, Li is now confident that the mechanism for organ regeneration in mammals is different, thanks to the study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
Chinese scientists study axolotl’s ability to regenerate for human health
Li and his colleagues analysed more than 74,000 cells covering the critical stages of antler regeneration and built a single-cell atlas of antler regrowth.
They found a group of cells – called PMCs – believed to be crucial for limb regeneration in frogs and salamanders – to be abundant in deer antlers as well as in the tips of mouse digits.
However, the researchers also discovered that the PMCs in antler-generating tissues were formed by a sharply different process to lower-order vertebrates, according to the study.
In axolotl limb regeneration, the cells are formed through a process called dedifferentiation, in which they become less specialised and return to an earlier development stage.
In contrast, the PMCs were permanently present in the antler-generating tissues, the scientists from Northwestern Polytechnical University, Changchun Sci-Tech University, Fourth Military Medical University and Jilin Agricultural University said.
How deer antlers could create a new branch of cancer research
The researchers also observed a PMC subtype, called PMC4, five days after antler casting. These cells had a high expression of multiple genes that support regeneration and are associated with cartilage and limb development, according to the researchers.
The study found cells with a similar gene expression in the tips of a mouse’s digits, but not in an axolotl limb.
“These findings indicate the potential existence of a cell population across mammals that is essential and specific for mammalian appendage regeneration,” the authors wrote.
The scientists dubbed the PMC4 cell population “antler blastema progenitor cells (ABPCs)”, and said they were crucial to the regeneration process.
Li said the team would keep looking for factors that could induce differentiation of limb stump cells in ABPC-like cells by triggering them to express the key characteristic genes identified in the study, with the ultimate goal of achieving limb regeneration.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51ku6bD0miaoaGelny0r8iepZydX5a%2FtbXCpZxoa2JmgXiCkGiaoaGemsCmedKcoJ6mpJ7Atb%2BMn6CnnF2YubaxjJump51dp7Kovs6wq6FllJqys3nAp6ulnaJiwLXBw7I%3D