Share Jones Lecture explores organ regeneration

Do deer antlers hold the key to human limb or organ regeneration? That was the question tackled by Professor Jo Price in the RCVS Share Jones Lecture 2007, entitled: ‘Sex and Regeneration: Lessons from Nature’.

Delivering the lecture on 15 November, at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), London, Professor Price described her study of deer antlers, the only mammalian organ capable of regeneration, as an excellent example of how the knowledge gained in veterinary anatomy can be applied across other branches of science.

Professor Price began by stressing the relevance of studies in regenerative medicine, particularly against the context of an ageing human population and the degenerative diseases of ageing.

She explained that, compared with the ethical issues surrounding human stem cell research, the study of natural models of regeneration such as deer antlers provided a less contentious route to developing potential regenerative therapies.

As young children, many of us become fascinated with the ability of lower organisms such as earthworms and newts to repair themselves. Yet deer are the only mammals that are capable of regenerating entire organs, and they can do it consistently and quickly: antlers can grow up to 1cm per day. This makes their study valuable, despite the practical problems of dealing with large, antlered, semi-wild animals.

As Professor Price outlined, studies in this area have already born fruit. For example, a metal device that mimics the interface between the deer antler and bone has been developed to help prevent skin infections around external bone implants. This has proved successful in experimental animals and dogs, and is being trialled for human use.

The cells that go on to form antlers are multipotentional, according to Professor Price, which means that when treated with different agents they are capable of forming a range of cell types, such as bone, fat and cartilage cells, in the same way human bone marrow cells can. The cells are also able to survive in culture outside of the body for up to 400 days, compared with approximately 60 days for other adult types of cell such as skin cells.

In investigating the hormonal triggers involved in controlling antler growth, Professor Price discovered that, at the level of the cell, oestrogen, rather than testosterone, was the major regulator. Antlers flourish when deer are “released from the tyranny of testosterone”, she said.

Discovery of this fact “was satisfying to someone determined to show the effectiveness of women in the world,” said RCVS President Bob Moore, praising Professor Price’s success and determination.

In paying further tribute to Professor Price, only the second woman to be made Professor at the RVC, its Principal, Professor Quintin McKellar, praised her ability to convey complex ideas in simple terms to the mixed audience present, saying she was “a positive role model for students, as both a veterinary surgeon and a scientist”.

Professor Price has held an interest in anatomy since her veterinary undergraduate days, when she intercalated in Anatomical Science at Bristol Veterinary School. Once qualified, she worked in equine and small animal practice before returning to Bristol as a lecturer in veterinary anatomy.

Her PhD, which she completed at the University of Sheffield, addressed the mechanisms of antler regeneration. Following a period at the RVC, she studied for four years in the Department of Medicine at University College London, before returning to the RVC, where she was made Professor of Veterinary Anatomy in 2005.