Browsing by Author "Domingues, Adriana da Costa Anselmo"
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- Scar-free healing: acomys cahirinus, a model of mammalian regenerationPublication . Domingues, Adriana da Costa Anselmo; Vitorino, Marta; Simão, SóniaRegeneration is the capacity that some organisms present to regrow tissues, appendages or even organs without scar and with full functionality. This capacity is present mostly in invertebrates and lower vertebrates such as some fish and lizards, but not in mammals. Spiny mice (Acomys spp.) are a non-traditional rodent model that possess a number of interesting characteristics. This rodent is currently gaining attention as a tissue regeneration model. While most mammals repair wounds by fibrotic scarring, Acomys can mount a regenerative response to wounding of several organs and tissues, including skin, ear and musculoskeletal tissue. In this manuscript, it was done a compilation and an extensive review of the Acomys regeneration literature published in the last decade. It is described all the information available about the characteristics and mechanisms that lead to regeneration in this animal model. In conclusion, until now was described that Acomys is able to regenerate several organs and tissues such as ear, skin, skeletal muscle and spinal cord. The regeneration of these several tissues has some common features and other that are specific for each tissue. It is described that a mild immune system present in Acomys allows the regeneration of all this tissues. Moreover, it is also thought that this ability is due to macrophage response, lack of fibrosis and myofibroblasts production and Hippo-Yap signalling regulation. Regarding the heart and kidney, the regeneration of this tissues was never showed, however these organs are more resistant to injury and are able to regain function after injury. With this animal model, the scientific community will try to unveil the mechanisms behind regeneration and, in the future, following the hypothesis that regenerative mechanisms are conserved throughout the vertebrates, they could then extrapolate these finding to develop therapies for humans.