科學(xué)家們可能已經(jīng)找到了一種提高身體自愈能力的方法

科學(xué)家們可能已經(jīng)找到了一種提高身體自愈能力的方法

It’s not just Wolverine that has the ability to rebuild and restore wounded tissue. In fact, we all have a quite remarkable capacity to heal when we suffer an injury, thanks to our ability to produce new stem cells. Obviously, there is a limit to how much damage our bodies can repair, although researchers may have just discovered a way to enhance our powers of restoration by increasing the rate at which these stem cells are generated.

不僅僅是狼獾有能力重建和恢復(fù)受傷的組織。事實(shí)上，當(dāng)我們受傷時(shí)，我們都有一種非凡的治愈能力，這要?dú)w功于我們制造新干細(xì)胞的能力。顯然，我們的身體能夠修復(fù)的損傷是有限的，盡管研究人員可能剛剛發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種方法，通過(guò)增加這些干細(xì)胞的生成速度來(lái)增強(qiáng)我們的修復(fù)能力。

A new study in the journal Regenerative Medicine describes how scientists were able to stimulate the self-repair response of rats in order to rebuild broken spines. Healing similar injuries in humans is currently not possible, and the study authors are hopeful that their technique could one day help people recover from a range of previously untreatable injuries.

發(fā)表在《再生醫(yī)學(xué)》雜志上的一項(xiàng)新研究描述了科學(xué)家如何能夠刺激老鼠的自我修復(fù)反應(yīng)，以重建折斷的脊椎。在人類(lèi)身上治愈類(lèi)似的損傷目前是不可能的，這項(xiàng)研究的作者希望他們的技術(shù)有一天能幫助人們從一系列以前無(wú)法治愈的損傷中恢復(fù)過(guò)來(lái)。

Ben Taub

Rats in the study were given a cocktail of two drugs, one of which is normally administered during bone marrow transplants while the other is used for bladder control. This caused the rats’ bone marrow to produce an elevated number of mesenchymal stem cells, which are stem cells that can develop into bone tissue.

在這項(xiàng)研究中，研究人員給老鼠注射了兩種藥物的混合物，其中一種通常在骨髓移植時(shí)使用，另一種用于膀胱控制。這使得大鼠的骨髓產(chǎn)生了大量的間充質(zhì)干細(xì)胞，這些干細(xì)胞可以發(fā)育成骨組織。

As a consequence, enhanced calcium binding was seen at the site of the rats’ spinal injuries, speeding up the formation of new bone and healing the wounds.

結(jié)果，在大鼠脊髓損傷部位發(fā)現(xiàn)了強(qiáng)化的鈣結(jié)合，加速了新骨的形成和傷口的愈合。

The figure on the right shows the level of healing with no treatment, while the figure on the left shows the effect of the two drugs in combination. The red coloring indicates calcium incorporating into the bone, which is associated with enhanced healing. Image: Imperial College London

“We know that when bones break they will heal, and this requires the activation of stem cells in the bone,” explained study co-author Sara Rankin in a statement. “However, when the damage is severe, there are limits to what the body can do of its own accord.”

“我們知道，當(dāng)骨頭斷裂時(shí)，它們會(huì)愈合，這需要激活骨頭中的干細(xì)胞，”研究的合著者薩拉·蘭金在一份聲明中解釋道。“然而，當(dāng)損害嚴(yán)重時(shí)，人體自身的能力是有限的。”

“We hope that by using these existing medications to mobilize stem cells, as we were able to do in rats in our new study, we could potentially call up extra numbers of these stem cells, in order to boost our bodies own ability to mend itself and accelerate the repair process.”

“我們希望通過(guò)使用這些現(xiàn)有的藥物來(lái)動(dòng)員干細(xì)胞，就像我們?cè)谛卵芯恐性诶鲜笊砩献龅哪菢?，我們可能?huì)調(diào)用更多的干細(xì)胞，以提高我們身體自我修復(fù)的能力，加速修復(fù)過(guò)程。”

Because the drugs involved are already widely used, the researchers are hopeful that human trials can proceed without the need for extensive safety testing. If these trials produce the same results as those seen in rats, then this treatment could help to not only repair spinal injuries, but to speed up the rate at which broken bones heal and even mend damaged tissues in other organs.

由于所涉及的藥物已經(jīng)被廣泛使用，研究人員希望人體試驗(yàn)可以在不需要大量安全測(cè)試的情況下進(jìn)行。如果這些試驗(yàn)的結(jié)果與在老鼠身上看到的相同，那么這種治療不僅可以幫助修復(fù)脊髓損傷，而且可以加快骨折愈合的速度，甚至可以修復(fù)其他器官受損的組織。