Medical Limb Regeneration and Functional Recovery in adult Xenopus laevis

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom.G
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Functional
AI Thread Summary
Amputated hind legs in adult frogs have been successfully regrown and restored to functional status after an 18-month period. This remarkable regeneration was achieved through a 24-hour exposure to a multidrug, pro-regenerative treatment administered via a wearable bioreactor. The regenerated limbs exhibited complex tissue structures, including skin, bone, vasculature, and nerves, surpassing the capabilities of untreated control specimens. Notably, the sensorimotor pathways in the treated frogs were restored to pre-injury functionality, indicating the successful reestablishment of sensory nerve fibers and neuromuscular connections. This breakthrough builds on decades of research interest in limb regeneration.
Tom.G
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
5,661
Reaction score
4,503
Amputated hind legs were sucessfully regrown and functional in adult frogs.


"Here, we demonstrate long-term (18 months) regrowth, marked tissue repatterning, and functional restoration of an amputated X. laevis hindlimb following a 24-hour exposure to a multidrug, pro-regenerative treatment delivered by a wearable bioreactor. Regenerated tissues composed of skin, bone, vasculature, and nerves significantly exceeded the complexity and sensorimotor capacities of untreated and control animals’ hypomorphic spikes.
.
.
.
...we determined that sensorimotor pathways were functionally restored to preinjury levels in the animals exposed to the full treatment condition, indicating reestablishment of afferent sensory nerve fibers and neuromuscular tissue interfaces.


Popular article:
https://www.livescience.com/frogs-regrow-amputated-legs-in-lab

Technical article:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj2164
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes sysprog and BillTre
Biology news on Phys.org
People have wanted to do this at least since I was in grad school, in the 1980's.
 
Last edited:

Thread 'Flesh-eating New World Screwworm re-occurrence in US'

Deadly cattle screwworm parasite found in US patient. What to know. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2025/08/25/new-world-screwworm-human-case/85813010007/ Exclusive: U.S. confirms nation's first travel-associated human screwworm case connected to Central American outbreak https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-confirms-nations-first-travel-associated-human-screwworm-case-connected-2025-08-25/...
View full post »

Thread 'Chagas disease now established in US'

Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S. According to articles in the Los Angeles Times, "Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S.", and "Kissing bugs bring deadly disease to California". LA Times requires a subscription. Related article -...
View full post »

Thread 'I need help understanding this quote about recent Natural Selection'

I am reading Nicholas Wade's book A Troublesome Inheritance. Please let's not make this thread a critique about the merits or demerits of the book. This thread is my attempt to understanding the evidence that Natural Selection in the human genome was recent and regional. On Page 103 of A Troublesome Inheritance, Wade writes the following: "The regional nature of selection was first made evident in a genomewide scan undertaken by Jonathan Pritchard, a population geneticist at the...
View full post »

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top