Recent studies have finally revealed how gecko can regenerate its tail. The invention is also useful in the development of treatment in humans.
Leopard gecko. (Vickaryous Lab)
Many types of lizards can release their tails to avoid predators and regenerate the body parts. Over the years scientists have been trying to figure out how the animals regenerate their tails.
A recent study published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology has finally revealed how geckos - one type of lizard, can regenerate its tail. In the study, researchers from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, found stem cells that play a role in the ability of the gecko to regrow the tail that has been broken. This discovery has implications for developing spinal injury treatment in humans.
Unlike mammals, the lizard's tail contains the spinal cord. Lead author of the study, Professor Gilbert, M.K. Vickaryous found that the spinal cord in the tail of the gecko contains a large number of stem cells and proteins that are known to support stem cell growth.
"We know that the spinal cord gecko can regenerate, but we do not know which cells play a key role," Vickaryous said.
Meanwhile, said Vickaryous, humans are notoriously bad in dealing with spinal cord injuries. Therefore he hopes his team can apply what they learned from gecko to help the human spinal cord to improve itself.
Gecko is able to regenerate the new tail within 30 days, faster than other types of lizards.
In the wild, they release the tail when caught by predators. The tail cuts continue to wiggle, distracting the predator long enough for the geckos to escape.
In the lab, Vickaryous makes this simulation by pinching the gecko tail so he releases it. When loose, the base of the tail began to repair itself, until the endnnya membentung network and new spinal cord. In this study, Vickaryous with PhD student Emily Gilbert investigated what happened at the cell level before and after discharge.
Both found that the spinal cord contains a special type of stem cell known as the radial glial cell. This stem cell, normally quite calm.
"But when the tail comes off, everything changes temporarily," Vickaryous said. "The cells produce different proteins and start multiplying more in response to injury, eventually they form a new spinal cord." When the wound heals and the spinal cord is restored, the cell returns to a resting state. "
On the other hand, humans respond to spinal cord injury by forming scar tissue rather than new tissue. Scar tissue closes the wound quickly, but closing the wound prevents regeneration.
"The wound does heal quickly, but in the long term it will be a problem," he said.
Vickaryous added that this may be the cause of our limited ability to repair the spinal cord. "We do not have the type of key cell needed," he said.
The study included in a series of investigations on the regenerative ability of the central nervous system of the gecko. The next step is to examine how geckos are able to create new brain cells, Vickaryous said.
"Gecko is able to grow many tissues throughout their bodies, making it an ideal model for learning wound healing and tissue redevelopment.We can learn a lot from them."
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