UK Scientists regenerate a living organ for the first time

With all the news lately about 3D printing and other methods of producing new organs to replace damaged ones, actually getting a damaged organ to regenerate itself has remained beyond our grasp, until now.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh, in the UK, have succeeded in getting a living organ to rejuvenate while still inside the animal. They specifically focused their efforts on a protein known as Forkhead box N1 (FOXN1), which is part of the mechanism in our bodies that turns on certain genes as we age, and is known to be important in the development of the thymus. The thymus is an important part of our immune system, since it's where cells from our bone marrow mature into a type of white blood cell called T-cells — which allow our immune system to adapt to new threats. When we age, the thymus doesn't function as well, so fewer T-cells are produced and our immune system becomes diminished.

The researchers found that by stimulating an increase in the amount of FOXN1 produced by the thymus of aged mice, using a chemical known as tamoxifen, it caused the thymus to be rejuvenated to be nearly the same as the thymus of a much-younger mouse.

It's not clear yet if the immune system of the mice was improved along with the rejuvenated thymus or not, but the results do show promise.

"Our results suggest that targeting the same pathway in humans may improve thymus function and therefore boost immunity in elderly patients, or those with a suppressed immune system," said Clare Blackburn, a professor of Tissue Stem Cell Biology at the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, according to a university news release. "However, before we test this in humans we need to carry out more work to make sure the process can be tightly controlled."

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Whether this actually results in a method of organ regeneration in humans or not remains to be seen (an article in The Economist pointed out some potential limitations). However, the boon here is apparently that the researchers' findings have shown how just stimulating one specific protein can have such a big effect on the vitality of an organ. So, this could lead them and other researchers in directions that could produce treatments in the future.

The research paper detailing their work is published online in the journal Development.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

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