Medical Limb Regeneration and Functional Recovery in adult Xenopus laevis

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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.
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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.
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...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
 
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People have wanted to do this at least since I was in grad school, in the 1980's.
 
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