Researchers have discovered a protein that enables the regeneration process of limbs after amputation even without nerve dependence. Understanding the processes that enable the regrowth of organs in salamanders may in the future contribute to the development of drugs that will aid in healing after injuries
Different animals are able to grow body parts to one degree or another after amputation. There are many examples in the animal world of amazing regenerative capacity. For example, in many invertebrates an entire organism can develop from a cluster of cells. Vertebrates such as salamanders excel in their ability to restore. They are able to grow limbs, tail, jaws, parts of eye tissue, intestines and even small parts of the heart after injury. Even in mammals there is a capacity for regeneration and healing, although it is usually very limited.
Many studies on regeneration processes after amputation are carried out in salamanders, which possess an impressive growth capacity of missing limbs. In these animals, immediately after the amputation, there is a migration of epidermal cells towards the stump and the creation of a kind of dome that closes the wound. Later, many cells in the stump area go through processes of dedifferentiation, that is, they turn from sorted cells with a defined structure and function into a kind of stem cells with the ability to divide and multiply. These cells give rise to additional cells that will build the various tissues in the organ such as nerves, muscles and blood vessels. This area, under the epidermal dome, where the stem cells are located is called the blastema. The blastema enables the creation of the various structures in a distal direction to it (that is, outward from the center of the body). At the end of the process, about three months after the amputation, the new limb cannot be distinguished from the one that was amputated.
Among the main components that enable the creation of the blastema and the growth of the limb are the nerves and the epidermis of the wound. And without regrowth of the axon extension of the nerve, the processes of growth and division of the cells in the blastema are inhibited, especially in the first stages of healing.
One of the most important proteins in determining the growth patterns of the new limb is the membrane protein Prod1. In a study conducted in the laboratory of Prof. Jeremy Brockes from University College London and published in the journal Science, the protein nAG was identified which is able to bind Prod1 and plays an important role in encouraging cell division. The expression of the nAG protein increases following the amputation, mainly in the Schwann cells, at the distal end of the nerve sheath, in the initial stages of the regeneration process. In addition, the increase in the level of nAG in the stump area depends on the nerve presence. The researchers were able to show that forced expression of nAG by introducing DNA into the injured area, even in cases where the nerve was removed artificially, allows the creation of the new limb.
Studies of this type advance science towards understanding the patterns that enable the organization of the tissues in the restoration process to create a functionally, structurally and spatially complex organ. According to Prof. Brooks and his research partners, the dependence of regeneration processes on the nerve cells is conserved among different animals during evolution, from the regeneration of fins in fish to the growth of arms in species of sea anemones and starfish and the construction of the body axis in ringworms, as well as in the growth of limbs in mature salamanders in which the neural density more The ability to allow the growth of the limb by expressing a protein externally and without structural dependence may indicate the importance of the blastema as an autonomous structure that enables regeneration. Understanding the protein components that participate in the process in adult animals, such as exist in the salamander's blastema, will perhaps allow in the future to engineer a similar structure in mammals without the need for additional external intervention.
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Great article
post Scriptum.
Regarding the unnecessary billions of humans, I hope the words were said with humor or sarcasm. Otherwise those who say it should also offer creative solutions. What is the solution in your opinion - to sterilize? destroy? To give up our children in advance or in retrospect? Unfortunately, history is littered with "geniuses" who tried these ways. How about adopting a positive attitude and joining the fighters for the planet. The path is indeed more difficult, but definitely humane and extremely valuable
If you mention religion, you should first study things in depth. Man is not the vision of everything in religion, but since he is endowed with reason he was given "credits" for self and environmental management. How he used the tools given to him is another debate. In the scriptures - at least in Judaism - the nothingness of man compared to creation is emphasized.
And in relation to the regeneration process, it is clear that the more complex the object is - its recognition, learning and reproduction are more difficult to the point of impossible. Therefore "man is allowed from..."
Man is not the pinnacle of evolution...
We will definitely take bacteria or cockroaches that will be here long after us,
So say they don't rule the world...
So I'll say it's like the idea of the Indians, they live in harmony with the world, or at least they didn't have time to develop enough technologically...
What's the point of our technology if in a billion years there will only be cockroaches...
We should be nice to them right now and recognize the deity called Jock!
Led. breach,
I just wanted to add, I responded because from your first response it was simply not possible to understand what you were trying to say, although I had the feeling that you were going against the concept of human superiority, it was also possible to understand from your words the exact opposite...
I actually meant to write today, because my comment from Friday was written in a hurry (which is true because I was in a hurry to get out)..to clarify why I remembered now to write a comment that talks about the "superiority" of man which is no less hasty (only that it lasts for thousands of years!!) but as I see I was well understood!
But Kazeka repeats the argument of the size of the brain (probably the physical one) as what distinguishes man from other animals just as I mentioned in my first response.. interesting!!
Today I happened to see a program from a series called "Vihya Or" which tells the story of the development of science through discoveries related to light..it started with the Danish astronomer (who actually believed in astrology!! a matter of time) who during his observations of the sky fell on a bright comet whose conclusions contradicted the The Christian belief (a theory in my opinion) about seven glass firmaments that protect the earth and it is impossible to pass between them.. The comet smashed this belief to pieces (I heard about it for the first time today) and Tycho found himself outside the island he received from the king and died from drinking too much due to infection!
The connection to our topic is that this belief has always placed man at the center of the universe that everything revolves around him..and the comet showed that man is not as special as he thinks but a tiny point and insignificant or with tiny importance!!
Then came the English Herschel who developed the reflecting telescope with which he could see millions of light years away (I forgot to mention Galileo before him who was also persecuted by the church) from whom it turns out that our friend who is at the center of several debates on the site was inspired by Darwin for his theory of evolution! !
Another Englishman named Hooke thought if it was possible to look at the stars? So why not in tiny animals? And that's how the microscope came into the world! And here again the question of the uniqueness of man came up because of the amazing things he discovered about insects and birds of all kinds!!
It is interesting that back then the people were less proud than today, so humble that they understood that there is indeed nothing special about a person, perhaps on the contrary, and only out of this humility and accepting reality as it is did the great ideas grow!!
That is, the more the person thinks that he is not special, he will continue to progress and vice versa.. he will freeze in his tracks as the religion that saw in the person the appearance of everything has not moved a millimeter since then!!
Regarding the unnecessary 5.5 billion, I did not say how to throw away, but only that they constitute a serious problem for the existence of our world.. and I emphasized the small chance of change due to the existence of countries with opposing interests and competition between races and peoples, etc.
hello sit down
unify and burst,
I think we have a big advantage over other animals: the brain. Our brains are big enough for us to control the environment, develop weapons and thus gain an advantage over the animals. You must agree with me that a gun is stronger than claws and bombs are stronger than teeth. We have had an advantage over animals since the Ice Age, when we lit fire and developed primitive weapons. Our advantage is great and we use it both for good and for bad.
And with one thing I agree, there is going to be a population explosion, 6 billion is too much, but you shouldn't exaggerate and throw away 5.5 billion.
Led. breach,
I agree with most of what you said but still think that man has a unique place. There is no point in talking about "superiority" or "priority" because these are human concepts and will always be valid only in a subjective measure.
Nevertheless, there is an objective meaning to human uniqueness. Humans are at the top of the pyramid. We are the perfect super carnivore, although we are not physically impressive, (we can't regrow limbs, for example) we have found our place in a rather strange niche…
Man, more than any other creature and in an extreme manner, deviated from the normal evolutionary framework. Instead of the environment changing the strain, the strain changes the environment. The price is indeed expensive, as we are beginning to discover, history and evolution will already judge if we are "successful."
The very fact that we are able to talk about our place in nature, this ability for abstract thinking unmatched by other animals, gives us an interesting status.
In conclusion, I think it is not entirely a lie that we tell ourselves. We are special, but much less than we think. We have a lot of potential especially if we start working with nature and not against it.
And yes, 6 billion is really way too much.
Shabbat Shalom.
to unite
They constantly compare man to other animals and try to find the reason why man is allowed over other animals.. Does this sound familiar to you?
Sometimes the volume of the brain is measured and other times something else while starting from a starting point because man (even if they don't say it explicitly) is the pinnacle of creation!!
In fact, there are those who say explicitly!
But every time it turns out that nature does not "put" on man at all and it seems more like a genetic error than a chosen creation of nature... we have to admit it!
Almost all biological productions have more features and reaction possibilities than a person who came into the world naked of any potential and had to make his way from the first moment without receiving any advantage!
In practice this turned out to be the biggest impulse and the biggest mistake of nature according to the development of the eyes until now.. one moment of inattention when nature was busy with something else.. and whoop man was created!
Man can be compared to algae that take over vast areas in the sea or to a weed..not pleasant but this is the true comparison..we are algae walking on two and we will not stop until the last fish in the sea and on land!
In other words, there are 5.5 billion excess people in the world out of the 6 whose minds bully nature and, unlike algae, also accompany all this with restless destructive activity!
Shabbat Shalom
Led. Honorable Peretz,
What the hell are you talking about?
Thanks in advance,
one
Interesting article. A truly important discovery, and we hope that the research in the field will continue and yield more insights.
If a person had limbs and various parts that had been cut off, they would see this as proof of man's superiority and being the chosen one in nature...and perhaps also of the existence of God!
But when it comes to a salamander or another animal, it becomes an experimental animal with no theological or philosophical meaning!!
Just to remind us of another one of the lies we tell ourselves as an accepted and true matter!