African Spiny Mouse Has Salamander-like Regenerative Abilities

Posted on September 27, 2012

University of Florida researchers have discovered that the African spiny mouse has unique regenerative capabilities. The mouse, described in a paper in Nature, is able to regrow new body tissues following an injury. The African spiny mouse pictured above was collected in the field near Nairobi Kenya. These mice have skin that is easily torn, which helps them escape predators. Their special ability enables them to then regrow skin or ear parts they lose in escape attempts.

Ashley W. Seifert, a postdoctoral researcher in UF's biology department, says in an announcement, "The African spiny mouse appears to regenerate ear tissue in much the way that a salamander regrows a limb that has been lost to a predator. Skin, hair follicles, cartilage -- it all comes back."

The spiny mouse does this without scar tissue. Seifert says that in other mammals scar tissue forms to fill a gap created by an injury. The spiny mouse can also regrow tissue on its main body when it is injured, but not as perfectly as it does in its ears. Seifert says the hair follicles and skin are regrown, but the muscle tissue does not grow back.

Siefert used a 4mm biopsy punch in the ears of the mice to test their ability to regrow tissue. He says, "The results were astonishing. The various tissues in the ear grew back through formation of blastema-like structures -- the same sort of biological process that a salamander uses to regenerate a severed limb."

There is hope the African spiny mice's unique tissue regrowth capabilities could translate into medical therapies for humans. Salamanders are studied frequently in the lab, but amphibian biology is very different than human biology. Lessons learned from studying these remarkable mice may be more easily translated into human medical treatments.

ANIMALS