Delphine Schiltz // Photo credit: AFP
It is a well-known scientific phenomenon. Threatened by a predator, the lizards voluntarily separate their tails to escape. This pushes back. This could pave the way for new approaches in the treatment of osteoarthritis. Scientists from the Keck School of Medicine at USC have identified key cells involved in the process of cartilage regeneration in lizards.
The lizard’s tail regenerates thanks to two types of cells that work together. The first, the fibroblasts which build the tissue and the second, the stocks which prevent healing. Without this healing, the tissues cannot close and therefore the tail regrows.
A disease that affects nearly 10 million French people
So, can this super power act elsewhere on other parts of the body? The researchers wanted to know and they tried in the legs of the reptile. Result: the implantation of septoclasts effectively allowed the lizard’s limbs to regenerate.
Initial encouraging results for testing cartilage regeneration in mammals, including humans. The long-term hope of curing the different forms of osteoarthritis. Cartilage disease that handicaps our hands, our knees, our hips, and for which there is still no cure. The disease affects nearly 10 million French people. To recreate this extraordinary process, researchers at USC’s Keck School of Medicine now need to analyze the genetic activity of the lizard’s regenerative cells.