Spotlight on the Schwann cells during the regeneration

Despite the keen interest and decades-lasting efforts to puzzle out the enigma of regeneration capacity of diverse organisms, the desired key to the mammalian multi-tissue regeneration is still far from being discovered. It is obvious that with the increasing complexity of animal body plan and function, the ability to regenerate various tissues is being significantly reduced. While organisms such as cnidarians or flat-worms can regenerate significant parts of their bodies (1,2), the only multi-tissue regeneration known from mammals, specifically from mice and humans, is the re-growth of the lost digit tip (3). Interestingly, one of the common links found in the regenerative processes of diverse organisms turned out to be a nerve-dependence. For example, the nerve presence is essential in crustacean appendage regeneration as well as in a re-growth of amputated sea star limb (4). Vertebrate limb regeneration is no exception to this rule and, therefore, is also dependent on the presence of local innervations (5).