Limb

Regeneration

BE-208 Biomaterials and Devices

Dhankani Aryan Narendra
20111018
 POWER OF
REGENERATION

• Many invertebrates (animals without a spine) are

masters of regeneration.
• Flatworms and hydra, for instance, can regrow their
entire bodies from only a tiny piece of their original
selves.
• Even among vertebrates (animals that do have
spines), the axolotl isn’t the only animal capable of
regeneration.
• Young frogs are known to regrow limbs, though they
lose this ability when they change from tadpoles to
adult frogs. On the other hand, the axolotl retains it
throughout its entire life, making it unique among
vertebrates and a great model to study in regeneration
research.
Axolotl
As legend has it, the axolotl is the
Aztec god of fire and lightning,
Xolotl, which disguised himself as a
salamander to avoid being
sacrificed. But these Mexican
amphibians are impressive enough
on their own, with the ability to
regenerate lost limbs and stay
“young” throughout their lives.
Is Regeneration of Human
Limbs even possible?

While there are no known mammals that can

fully regenerate missing appendages, many
harbor hints of regenerative potential—
humans included. It has been observed that
mice can regenerate the tips of their toes,
though loss further up the foot results in the
same scarring that humans see after
amputation. Humans have also been known
to regenerate the tips of the fingers,
including the bone and skin. Multiple clinical
reports in the past decades have
documented such instances following
traumatic injury.
 PERFECT REGENRATION

When the tiny salamander limb is amputated,

blood vessels in the remaining stump contract
quickly, so bleeding is limited, and a layer of skin
cells rapidly covers the surface of the amputation
site. During the first few days after injury, this so-
called wound epidermis transforms into a layer of
signaling cells called the apical epithelial cap
(AEC), which is indispensable for successful
regeneration. In the meantime, fibroblasts break
free from the connective tissue meshwork and
migrate across the amputation surface to meet at
the center of the wound. There they proliferate to
form a blastema—an aggregation of stemlike cells
that will serve as progenitors for the new limb
 Presented by : Dhankani Aryan Narendra
20111018

Guided By : Prof. Gopinath P.

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