Could Gene in Animal Embryos Accelerate Tissue Repair? 'Lin28a' may Heal Injuries

Harvard Medical School scientists have worked to isolate a gene that could potentially accelerate tissue repair.

It's known as Lin28a, and could be the fountain-of-youth for its ability to help proliferate cells and heal injuries, cancers and other difficult-to-treat diseases.

It works via the process of tissue damage recovery. For years, scientists discovered this amazing process that occurred in young animals but not in adults.

Now, a new study shows that this gene may be responsible for repairing tissue damage. However, it is only active in embryos and not in adults.

"It sounds like science fiction, but Lin28a could be part of a healing cocktail that gives adults the superior tissue repair seen in juvenile animals," the senior author of the study, George Daley of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said.

Daley and colleagues analyzed the role of Lin28a by reactivating the gene in adult mice. The gene helps to regulate growth and development in youth and is responsible for faster tissue repair time. However, as animals age, their levels of Lin28a start to decrease.

Researchers observed that the activation of the gene promoted hair growth in the mice's injured ears and digits. It also appeared to stimulate cell proliferation and migration.

"We were surprised that what was previously believed to be a mundane cellular 'housekeeping' function would be so important for tissue repair," said study author Shyh-Chang Ng of Harvard Medical School. "One of our experiments showed that bypassing Lin28a and directly activating mitochondrial metabolism with a small-molecule compound also had the effect of enhancing wound healing, suggesting that it could be possible to use drugs to promote tissue repair in humans."

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Cell.