Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have pinpointed vital cells that contribute to cartilage regeneration in lizards, a finding that may provide new directions for treating osteoarthritis. This research exposes a special relationship between two types of cells, potentially leading to methods for rebuilding human cartilage damaged by injury or disease.
Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine have discovered essential cells playing a part in the lizard’s ability to regenerate cartilage—a breakthrough that may give rise to innovative treatments for osteoarthritis.
A group of scientists from the Keck School of Medicine has released the inaugural detailed account of how two cell types interact to enable lizards to regrow their tails. The study concentrates on the lizards’ extraordinary capability to recreate cartilage, which takes over as the principal structural tissue in regenerated tails after they are severed. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is to be published in the journal Nature Communications today (August 10).
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Potential Implications for Osteoarthritis Therapy
This discovery may furnish valuable insights to scientists working on ways to restore human cartilage damaged by osteoarthritis, a progressive and crippling condition affecting around 32.5 million adults in the United States, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, there is no cure for this ailment.
According to Thomas Lozito, the study’s corresponding author and assistant professor at the Keck School of Medicine, lizards have an almost mystical ability to regenerate cartilage, a trait that does not lead to ossification, unlike other higher vertebrates. This contrasts sharply with humans, who lose the ability to repair damaged cartilage as they age.
Understanding Exceptional Regenerative Abilities
Lozito further emphasized that grasping how creatures with remarkable healing abilities recreate tissue could aid scientists in mimicking those processes in mammals, ultimately allowing cartilage repair in humans.
Identification of Crucial Cells
The research team, including first author Ariel Vonk, identified that fibroblasts, tissue-building cells, are essential for forming cartilage in a lizard’s regenerated tail, whose skeleton is largely composed of cartilage. They described the gene activity shifts in specific fibroblast cells that facilitated cartilage formation.
Additionally, the researchers found that septoclasts, a type of immune cell, play a critical role in preventing fibrosis or scarring, enabling regeneration to occur.
Lozito highlighted that this collaboration between two cell types forms the basis of the regenerative process, pointing out the stark difference from humans, where tissue tends to scar, hindering regeneration.
The team hopes to further explore the molecular mechanisms that prevent scarring in lizards through single-cell RNA sequencing, with the aim of replicating the process in mammals.
Initiating Cartilage Regeneration in Lizard Limbs
Based on their understanding of the involved cells and molecular processes, the researchers conducted experiments to recreate cartilage rebuilding in lizard limbs, which do not naturally regenerate after loss. By replicating a tail-like signaling environment, they successfully induced cartilage formation in a lizard limb.
Lozito mentioned that they plan to test whether they can stimulate cartilage formation in mammals, starting with mice, using the methods developed in their lizard limb experiments.
Reference: “Single-cell analysis of lizard blastema fibroblasts reveals phagocyte-dependent activation of Hedgehog- responsive chondrogenesis” 10 August 2023, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40206-z
Other contributors to the study include Ariel Vonk, Xiaofan Zhao, Zheyu Pan, Megan Hudnall, Conrad Oakes, Gabriela Lopez, Sarah Hasel-Kolossa, Alexander Kuncz, Sasha Sengelmann, and Darian Gamble from the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
The project received funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01GM115444), along with support from the Molecular Genomics Core at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about cartilage regeneration
What is the main discovery of the research conducted by the Keck School of Medicine of USC?
The research identified key cells involved in lizard cartilage regeneration, uncovering the interaction between two cell types. These findings could lead to methods for regenerating damaged cartilage in humans, providing potential insights for treating osteoarthritis.
Who are the main researchers involved in this study?
The main researchers include Thomas Lozito, assistant professor at the Keck School of Medicine, and Ariel Vonk, a PhD student in the Lozito Lab. Several other authors contributed to the study as well.
What organisms are the researchers studying for cartilage regeneration?
The researchers are studying lizards, particularly their ability to regenerate cartilage in tails and limbs.
How might this research impact the treatment of osteoarthritis?
The understanding of how lizards regenerate cartilage, along with the identification of key cells involved, may provide insight into ways to rebuild cartilage damaged by osteoarthritis in humans. This could eventually lead to new therapeutic approaches for a condition that currently has no cure.
What are the two cell types found to be crucial for lizard cartilage regeneration?
The two cell types identified as vital for cartilage regeneration in lizards are fibroblasts, which help build tissue, and a type of immune cell called a septoclast that plays a role in inhibiting scarring.
What is the future direction of this research?
One future avenue for research is to use single-cell RNA sequencing to better understand the molecular mechanisms that prevent scarring in lizards. The team also hopes to test whether they can induce cartilage building in mammals, starting with mice, using techniques developed in their experiments on lizard limbs.
What journal is this research published in, and who funded the study?
The study will be published in the journal Nature Communications on August 10, 2023, and was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with support from the Molecular Genomics Core at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
More about cartilage regeneration
- Nature Communications
- Keck School of Medicine of USC
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
5 comments
so this means we could regrow human parts someday, like lizards? that’s just wild. science never ceases to amaze me
I can’t believe what lizards can do with their tails! This research is mindblowing and can be a game-changer for osteoarthritis patients, can’t wait to see where this goes.
Lizards regenerating tails and now limbs? This is incredible, USC’s research team must be very excited about these results. Congrats to them!
I’m a bio student and we were just talking abut this in class. I can’t wait to dig into the whole study in Nature Communications, it’s gonna be a great read!
My dad suffers from osteoarthritis, and its been hard on him, This research gives me hope that something might be coming soon to alleviate his pain. thanks to all those researchers out there.