Scientists managed to grow horn-like structures on the foreheads of mice by transplanting them with deer stem cells. This will allow the technology to be used to restore bone and cartilage in humans.
Deer antlers fall off and grow back every year – in the spring their length increases by about an inch per day. In their new study, scientists at Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi’an, China, have identified the cells responsible for this regrowth. As early as 45 days after these cells were transplanted onto the foreheads of hairless laboratory mice, small stumps began to grow. The team hopes that one day this procedure could be used to rebuild bones or cartilage in humans — or even regrow lost limbs.
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Deer antlers are the only mammalian body part that regenerates every year and is one of the fastest growing living tissues found in nature. After some animals lose a limb, a population of cells called a blastema develops, which over time can develop into limb-reproducing cells. Deer have blastema cells that regenerate antler and bone tissue after molting.
In 2020, another group of scientists discovered that they could grow stumps on the heads of mice by inserting a piece of deer antler tissue under their forehead skin. But for the new study, published in the journal Science, the scientists wanted to identify specific blastema cells in the tissue responsible for the regenerative effects.
The team used RNA sequencing to study 75,000 cells of the Siberian deer, Cervus nippon, in and near antler tissue. By examining cells before, during and after the animals shed their antlers, they were able to determine which cells initiate regeneration.
The results showed that 10 days prior to shedding, stem cells were abundant in the horn pedicle, the stumps that remain on the day of shedding. Five days after the horn was shed, these cells formed a distinct subtype of stem cells that the team called “horn blastema progenitor cells” (PCBR).
The results showed that 10 days before the antler shedding, stem cells were present in abundance in the horn pedicle.
Photo: C. Li
And 10 days after the molt, PCBD began to turn into cartilage and bones.
After discovering the cells responsible for antler growth in deer, the team then grew PCBD in a laboratory petri dish. Five days later, they transplanted the cells between the mice’s ears, where they grew into “horn-like structures” with cartilage and bone in just 45 days.
Although the results of the study are preliminary, the researchers believe they may have important implications for humans.
The authors, led by Tao Quin, wrote: “Our results suggest that deer regenerative processes may have applications in the clinical practice of bone repair.” In addition, the induction of human cells into PCBD-like cells could be used in regenerative medicine to treat bone injury or limb reconstruction.”
Previously, Focus wrote about the regeneration of limbs in humans. Scientists believe that they have made a decisive discovery.
