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Each spring, male deer undertake a unique biological ritual: to quickly germinate and repel their massive, thorny antlers.
Complex matrix of bone, living tissue and nerve endings, antlers can reach 50 inches long and weigh more than 20 pounds before being eliminated in winter. Not only are the woods useful for attracting companions and fighting, they call the deer the only mammal that can repel lost body parts.
Now, researchers say they have identified the two genes primarily responsible for the regeneration of wood in one species, the red deer. The study, reported Tuesday in the Journal of Cell Stem Research and Therapy, indicates that these genes are also present in humans, potentially opening new avenues of research on trauma and bone diseases.
"The formation of antler shares biological mechanisms similar to human bone growth, but deer antlers grow much faster," said Peter Yang, orthopedic researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine. and lead author of the study. Perhaps by studying the newly identified genes in humans, scientists may be able to develop treatments that can "replicate the rapid bone growth of deer antlers in human bones" and relieve people suffering from diseases such as osteoporosis.
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During his 2009 vacation in Alaska's Denali National Park, Dr. Yang first took an interest in the woods, where a tour guide noted that deer could grow their bony appendages from close proximity. an inch each day in summer. "Since then, I have been fascinated by them," he said.
He and his colleagues went to a deer farm in California to collect samples of early wood tissue – primarily stem cells – from deer. After analyzing the genes in the samples, the researchers tried to stop and "activate" others to determine the function they controlled. They compared samples of RNA – molecules that carry messages in genes – from wood and human RNA in search of overlaps. They then tinkered the relevant genes in the mouse to see how they affected tissue growth.
The team ended up focusing on two genes, uhrf1 and s100a10, both related to human bone development. They found that when the uhrf1 gene was closed, the bone growth rate in mice slowed down considerably. And when the s100a10 gene was saturated, calcium deposition increased and manipulated cells mineralized more rapidly.
Dr. Yang and his team concluded that uhrf1 and s100a10 act in tandem to generate rapid wood growth in deer: uhrf1 promotes tissue production and s100a10 promotes hardening or mineralization of the tissue.
If this is true, the results could have "really interesting applications for human health," said Dr. Yang.
Although the regeneration of body parts is more often associated with salamanders and spiders, researchers have speculated that humans, with a little genetic boost, should also be able to repel lost tissue. . Even salamanders contain no special gene for regeneration, and humans already have the ability to develop new skin and lost rib sections.
Dr. Yang's findings apply to many people and need to be confirmed in other deer species. But he hopes the new research will lay the groundwork for future studies.
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