Scientists have discovered that humans have an innate or “salamander-like” ability to regenerate cartilage, which could lead to treatments for diseases such as osteoarthritis — and possibly provide a starting point for human limb regeneration.
Published on Oct. 9 in Science Advances, researchers from Duke University in North Carolina and Sweden’s Lund University began by analyzing the age of various proteins in human cartilage, through a process that would examine its amount of amino acid conversions — the more conversions, the older it would be.
They discovered that cartilage located in the ankles was the youngest and was regenerating at a more constant rate. Cartilage in the knees was deemed “middle-aged” and the oldest — which would regenerate at a slower rate — was in the hips.
“These findings reveal a dynamic anabolic effect in human limbs, which reflect a potential innate, albeit limited, regenerative capacity in human cartilage,” the study says.
The study points out that the presence of younger cartilage proteins would help explain why ankle injuries tend to heal quicker, while knee and hip injuries take longer to heal and could possibly develop into arthritis.
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