Do Salamander’s Hold the Key to Superhuman Healing? Chromatography Explores

In the world of superheroes, Marvel’s Wolverine is one of the most famous and popular characters. In countless adventures, he used his superpower’s to fight for mutants against the bad guys. Wolverine had several superpowers to help him survive and thrive as a superhero — superhuman strength, stamina and agility, along with adamantium claws to fight Red Skull and Cyclops.

But his defining superpower was his ability to regenerate his damaged or destroyed tissue. Wolverine had something known as healing factor. As yet, this is something that mere humans cannot replicate — but things might just be about to change. Could we soon join Wolverine and discover the secret to superhuman healing?

Salamander healing powers

Research recently published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB Journal) reports on the humble salamander’s healing powers. Salamanders are one of the many animals in nature that can regrow limbs and also quickly heal skin and flesh damage. The mechanism allowing limbs to regrow is not fully understood yet, but the team behind the research have managed to identify one of the key proteins in the process. Ren Lai, one of the team members from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, “This research takes a step toward an understanding of the cellular and molecular events that underlie quick wound healing in the salamander by the discovery of a potential wound healing promoting peptide.”

The team took a sample of skin from the type of salamander known as a Himalayan Newt and separated it into its components using gel filtration chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. Then using structural and functional analysis techniques they identified a protein called tylotoin — made of twelve amino acid residues — that promoted wound healing with epidermal growth factor in a bench top model.

Chromatography — Separation Superhero

Gel filtration chromatography is used to separate protein molecules based on their size and shape. It uses a porous bed of beads to carry out the separation. As the protein solution flows through the beads, small protein molecules can diffuse into the pores of the beads further than the large protein molecules. This holds the smaller molecules back, allowing the larger molecules to move through the bed quicker than the smaller protein molecules.

HPLC generally gives a higher resolution than gel filtration chromatography due to the high system pressure used to force the solutes through the column. For further information on protein separation with HPLC, read: Optimising Protein and Peptide Speed and Resolution with Superficially Porous Columns.

Future Regeneration?

It will be some time until humans can regrow limbs. The next step might be to test tylotoin in animal models, but this work points to an area where further research can help speed up wound repair in humans. As Gerald Weissmann of The FASEB Journal says, “Now, we are taking concrete steps to mimic this ancient – and forgotten – healing process in our own bodies.”

Once this is complete, all we need are adamantium skeletons, just like Wolverine. Who is researching this technology? 

Image Source: Salamander