A team of scientists from various Chinese research centers has grown deer antlers on mice heads. This may seem like an attempt to create a Frankenstein animal; but in fact what they have done has an interesting application in regenerative medicine.
In this field of science, it is common look at nature, to take ideas from animals that have a great ability to regenerate. These are usually amphibians such as the axolotl or salamander, or even simpler animals such as starfish. Everything is very far from the person. But yes there is mammals that support regenerative capacity. We are talking about deer, which shed their antlers every season in order to grow up again as big and strong.
For this reason, these scientists analyzed the stem cells that are activated at every moment in time. loss and regeneration of horns and then implanted them into the heads of mice to copied this ability. And they got it. Small horns have grown from the heads of rodents, opening the door to a new avenue of research in regenerative medicine.
Genes that keep deer from losing their antlers
To conduct this study, the authors isolated several cells from sika deer antlerstypical of the Far East.
Once the cells were isolated, they analyzed which genes involved in regeneration and, in addition, they observed which stem cells increased their activity in the days before and after the loss of horns.
We must remember that mother cells those that have the ability to differentiate into any type of cell. That is, these are cells similar to embryonic cells that have not yet transformed into a certain type of cell. They are widely studied in regenerative medicine because they are what allow a lost organ or bone to grow back. That is why the deer case is so interesting.
The authors of this study saw that there is a very active type of stem cell. just 10 days before the horns came off. However, 5 days later branch, it was a different type of stem cell that remained more active. Each played a role, so both were grown in the lab and implanted in the heads of mice. What happened next could be very helpful for future regenerative medicine therapies.
Here’s How This Experiment Can Help Regenerative Medicine
Forty-five days after implantation of deer stem cells, tiny antlers could already be seen on the heads of mice. This is due to the fact that stem cells differentiate into bone cartilage tissuewhich just intervenes in the repair bone fractures.
That’s why this experiment is so interesting. This may also be useful for restore human bones in regenerative medicine. Although we cannot forget that there would be many obstacles from an ethical point of view, since we are talking about to introduce cells of one type into another.
To get around this shortcoming, the study authors plan to look for genes in humans similar to those associated with deer stem cells. Perhaps other mammals have the same ability, but do not use it. You just have to look for it. At the moment, there is still a long way to go before this technology can be applied to humans. But at least now we know it’s possible. And all thanks mice with small deer antlers. It feels like it’s taken from a B-movie, but it’s pure reality that sometimes trumps fiction.
Source: Hiper Textual
