Possible foundation for human limb/tissue regeneration

machineslikeus.com...

"Can we replicate the Salamander's regenerative abilities in humans?"
This is pretty preliminary stuff, but interesting nonetheless. It seems Salamander's do not have "special" cells that function in limb regeneration, as previously thought; rather, cells from various systems join together to reform the detached limb or tissue.
"The salamander is a superhero of regeneration, able to replace lost limbs, damaged lungs, sliced spinal cord -- even bits of lopped-off brain. But it turns out that remarkable ability isn't so mysterious after all -- suggesting that researchers could learn how to replicate it in people."

reply to post by makinho21

My masters thesis was in new nerve growth in the spinal cord.

I used the spinal cord tissue (specifically the lateral motor collumn) of Rana catesbiana (african claw toed frog) and could trigger new dendritic outgrowth by using limb bud mesenchyme. In essence, I created a hormonal micro-environment where neuronal tissue thought it was at a specific developmental stage, where nerve growth was encouraged through hormonal cascade. I delivered the paper at a neuronal conference at Perdue University years ago. To get more information I might suggest looking up my old profs work. Dr. William Muhlach, or Dr. Manny Pollack.

I love this stuff.

S&F

And if anyone has any specific questions you can U2U me.

Mike



[edit on 7-7-2009 by mikerussellus]