African spiny mice regenerate skin without any scars

Research with the African spiny mouse is now pointing to possible new tissue-regeneration options for patients suffering from skin disorders, or who may have been caught during a fire.

The African spiny mouse has the amazing ability to shed its skin when threatened by a predator - leaving the assailant with a fatty decoy - only to regrow its skin later and go on to fight another day. According to the study, the spiny mouse can lose up to 60 percent of the skin on its back and regenerate it successfully.

Ashley W. Seifert, PhD, lead researcher in the study, told NPR that while traditional research has held that mice are in fact poor regenerators when it comes to skin or limbs, her research showed just the opposite.

"Probably one of the first one or two that I handled, he didn't like being held and sort of moved his body backwards, pushed off with one of his limbs, and that caused a huge tear in his back," she told NPR.

How it works
When humans (and ordinary lab mice) experience skin-deep wounds, their bodies naturally produce collagen I to block up the damaged area with scar tissue to prevent infection and further damage. Researchers from the University of Florida found that the spiny mouse, however, pumps out large amounts of collagen III. Rather than forming scar tissue, collagen III contracts the wounded skin to form new sebaceous glands, cartilage and hair.

According to other research published on Seifert's personal website, lineage-restricted progenitor cells can also be used by some animals, including other species of mice, to regenerate entire limbs.

Treatment implications
According to the study, possible treatments for human skin conditions would require a re-signaling of collagen III so that injured skin produces more collagen III than collagen I, effectively growing new skin.

The implications are wide for treating even conditions as simple as wrinkles, which at the moment may be alleviated if patients buy Restylane. Other skin treatments are also available at Canadian and international pharmacies for reduced costs, which can be particularly helpful as many treatment programs ask patients to undergo blue light and other expensive therapies.

While much of previous skin-regeneration research has been restricted to lizards and other animals that have long-known been able to autotomize body parts for later regrowth, the University of Florida study shows researchers that mammals may have more ability to regenerate outer layers than previously thought.