Hope for medicine Study: Oxygen influences the regeneration of limbs
Salamanders or tadpoles of frogs can regenerate entire limbs - an ability that mammals lack. A study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) now shows that oxygen plays a decisive role in this process.
14.04.2026, 23:17
SDA
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- A study by EPFL shows that low oxygen levels accelerate wound healing in mouse embryos.
- The protein HIF1A activates programs that help cells to repair tissue.
- The researchers therefore suspect that mammals also have a hidden potential for regeneration that could perhaps be used for medical purposes in the future.
Amphibians, with their outstanding ability to heal, have similar genes to mammals. However, it was previously unclear whether mammalian tissue could in principle activate programs for limb regeneration - and what prevents this.
A study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) now provides new clues. The researchers amputated developing limbs in tadpoles and mouse embryos and cultivated them outside the organism under various oxygen conditions. The results were published in the journal "Science", as the university announced on Tuesday.
A protein activates faster wound healing
According to the EPFL, a reduced oxygen concentration had a clear effect on the limbs of the mouse embryos. At low oxygen levels, the wounds closed more quickly and the cells "showed signs of starting a regeneration program".
The focus was also on the protein HIF1A, which acts as a cellular oxygen sensor. When oxygen levels are low, HIF1A stabilizes and activates wound healing and regeneration programs.
The researchers specifically stabilized this protein in their experiments with mouse embryos. The effect was the same: the wounds closed faster - even at high oxygen levels. The limbs of tadpoles regenerated efficiently over a wide range of oxygen levels, even at concentrations well above those of normal air, as EPFL writes.
Protein plays an important role
In summary, regenerative amphibians have a lower ability to detect oxygen, "which makes it possible to start and maintain regeneration programs". In mammals, the opposite is true.
The results suggest that mammalian limbs have a "latent regeneration potential" at an early stage of development. Targeted control of oxygen perception could improve wound healing in the future.
However, the EPFL emphasizes that only regeneration mechanisms are activated in mammals - not the complete regrowth of a developed limb. Such a development "is not to be expected tomorrow", they say.
