Abstract(s)
The ability to regenerate damaged tissues would be of tremendous benefit for medicine
and dentistry. Unfortunately, humans are unable to regenerate tissues such teeth, fingers or to
repair injured spinal cord. With an aging population, health problems are more prominent and
dentistry is no exception as loss of bone tissue in the orofacial sphere from periodontal disease is
on the rise. Humans can repair oral soft tissues exceptionally well, however hard tissues, like
bone and teeth, are devoid of the ability to repair well or at all. Fortunately, Mother Nature has
solved nearly every problem that we would like to solve for our own benefit and tissue
regeneration is no exception. By studying animals that can regenerate, like Axolotls (Mexican
salamander), we hope to find ways to stimulate regeneration in humans. We will discuss the role
of the transforming growth factor beta cytokines as they are central to wound healing in humans
and regeneration in Axolotls. We will also compare wound healing in humans (skin and oral
mucosa) to Axolotl skin wound healing and limb regeneration. Finally, we will address the
problem of bone regeneration and present results in salamanders which indicate that in order to
regenerate bone you need to recruit non-bone cells. Fundamental research, such as the work
being done in animals that can regenerate, offers insight to help understand why some treatments
are successful while others fail when it comes to specific tissues such as bones.