Found: Molecular route to regenerate organ tissue
February 16th, 2010 - 1:23 pm ICT by IANSWashington, Feb 16 (IANS) Scientists have discovered a molecular pathway that works through the immune system to regenerate damaged kidney tissues.
The breakthrough may lead to new therapies for repairing injury in a number of organs systems.
The findings come from collaborative research led by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School.
The study may potentially open up ways to treat kidney injury - a growing problem in hospitals and clinics, for which there is no treatment currently, according to senior study co-authors, Richard Lang and Jeremy Duffield.
Lang is researcher in paediatric ophthalmology and developmental biology at Cincinnati Children’s and Duffield is with Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The new molecular repair pathway involves white blood cells called macrophages - part of the immune system - that respond to tissue injury by producing a protein called Wnt7b.
Scientists identified the macrophage-Wnt7b pathway during experiments in mice with induced kidney injury.
Wnt7b is already known to be important to the formation of kidney tissues during embryonic organ development. In this study the scientists found the protein helped initiate tissue repair and regeneration in injured kidneys, says a Cincinnati Children’s centre release.
“Our findings suggest that by migrating to the injured kidney and producing Wnt7b, macrophages are re-establishing an early molecular program for organ development that also is beneficial to tissue repair,” said Lang.
“This study also indicates the pathway may be important to tissue regeneration and repair in other organs.”
Wnt7b is part of the Wnt family of proteins, which are known to help regulate cells as they proliferate, grow and become specific cell types for the body. It might have a role in tissue regeneration, says the current study.
These findings are based on a number of experiments of kidney injury in mice and were published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
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Tags: brigham and women, cincinnati children, collaborative research, developmental biology, duffield, harvard medical school, hospital medical, kidneys, macrophages, medical centre, molecular pathway, organ development, organ tissue, richard lang, s hospital, tissue injury, tissue regeneration, tissue repair, white blood cells, wnt family