The axolotl, a new model to improve the healing of broken bones

Although bone fractures rank high amongst the most frequent traumatic injuries, treating and healing large fractures remains a medical challenge: bone fragments can misalign and join improperly, leading to further complications. While bone healing is usually studied in mammalian models, the labs of Elly Tanaka at the IMP and Katharina Schmidt-Bleek at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin have developed a fracture model in the axolotl. This model allows the scientists to compare bone fracture healing to the process of bone regeneration after an amputation. Anastasia Polikarpova, postdoc and co-first author of the study, explains her research, now published in NPJ Regenerative Medicine.