心脏肌肉再生也许会成为可能

    From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道。

    It may seem like a moment in a science fiction movie. In a fierce battle, a creature loses an arm but, then, grows another one to take its place.
    这可能看起来像是科幻电影中的片段。在一场激烈的战斗中,某种生物失去了一只手臂,然后又长出来另一只来取代它。

    However, this is not science fiction. It is scientific fact. Some fish and amphibians, such as salamanders, can regrow lost limbs and organs.
    然而,这不是科幻小说,这是科学事实。有些鱼和蝾螈之类的两栖动物可以重新长出失去的肢体和器官。

    As mammals evolved they lost the ability to regrow, or regenerate, parts of their body. However, experiments show that it may be possible to regain that ability.
    随着哺乳动物的进化,它们失去了再生身体某一部分的能力。然而,实验表明它们有可能重新获得这种能力。

    Tropical freshwater zebrafish are popular pets. They are also popular as lab animals. Their embryos are clear, or translucent. They can regrow damaged fins, skin and hearts. Zebrafish are also genetically similar to humans.
    热带淡水斑马鱼是一种很受欢迎的宠物。它们作为实验动物也很受欢迎。它们的胚胎是透明或半透明的,它们可以再生损坏的鳍、皮肤和心脏。斑马鱼还和人类的基因相似。

    In 2013, the website Sci-News reported that researchers had found that 70 per cent of "protein-coding human genes" are related to genes found in the zebrafish. The report also said that researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Britain also found that 84 per cent of genes known to be connected to human disease have a zebrafish counterpart.
    2013年,《科技新闻》网站报道称,研究人员发现,70%的人类蛋白质编码基因同斑马鱼中发现的基因相关。该报道还称,英国韦尔科姆基金会桑格研究所的研究人员还发现,84%的已知同人类疾病相关的基因在斑马鱼基因中都可以找到对应物。

    These researchers published their findings in the scientific journal Nature. Sanger is a non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute.
    这些研究人员在《自然》杂志上发表了他们的研究结果。桑格研究所是英国一家非营利性的基因学和遗传学研究所。

    So, it is no surprise that scientists at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania are using tiny zebrafish to regenerate severely damaged mouse hearts.
    所以毫不意外的是,宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡大学的科学家开始利用小斑马鱼来再生严重受损的老鼠心脏。

    Scientist Wang Yadong is one of the Pittsburg researchers. He and his team are studying the ability of zebrafish to regenerate limbs and organs. Wang says you can cut away about 20 per cent of the zebrafish heart and it will regenerate. He add that same process may be able to help humans.
    王亚东(音译)就是匹兹堡大学的研究人员之一。他和他的团队正在研究斑马鱼再生肢体和器官的能力。王亚东表示,切掉斑马鱼大概20%的心脏,它会再生出来。他补充说,这类过程也许能够帮助人类。

    "So that amazing ability make(s) us think it's possible to borrow some of that repair regeneration mechanism and use that to help us to regenerate our heart."
    他说,“这种令人惊叹的能力让我们联想到,我们有可能借用其中一些修复再生机制,并利用它帮助我们再生人类心脏。”

    Scientists injected an "extracellular matrix," or ECM, from the heart of a zebrafish into a severely damaged mouse heart.
    科学家将一种取自于斑马鱼心脏的“细胞外基质”注入严重受损的老鼠心脏中。

    In biology, an extracellular matrix is a substance produced and released by cells that gives structural and biochemical support to surrounding cells. Think of ECM as cellular stuff that gives room and board to surrounding cells.
    在生物学中,细胞外基质是细胞产生和释放的一种物质,它能够向周围细胞提供结构和生化支持。人们把细胞外基质视为可以给周围细胞提供“食宿”的细胞原料。

    So, what did the researchers find?
    那么,研究人员发现了什么呢?

    They found that the heart muscle regenerated in days. They found something else. The healing was even faster when the ECM was taken from zebrafish that was itself in the process of re-growing damaged tissue.
    他们发现老鼠心脏肌肉在几天内再生。他们还发现,当细胞外基质取自于自身正处于受损组织再生过程的斑马鱼时,愈合得更快。

    Wang adds that if you had to choose between the two matrices, the "healing matrix" is more powerful of the two.
    王亚东补充说,如果需要在两种基质中做出选择,“愈合中的基质”是其中更强大的那种。

    "Between the two, the healing matrix from the zebrafish heart is even more potent than the normal one."
    他说,“在这两种基质中,取自斑马鱼心脏的愈合中的基质比正常情况下的基质更为有效。”

    A molecule called neuregulin 1 seems to play a major role in causing the regeneration to happen.
    一种被称之为神经调节蛋白1的分子似乎在促使再生的过程中发挥了重要作用。

    "We did see the zebrafish heart has more neuregulin 1 than the mouse heart. The healing zebrafish heart has even more than the normal. So, it does indicate that neuregulin probably plays a role but we have to do more study on that."
    王亚东说,“我们确实发现斑马鱼心脏比老鼠心脏拥有更多的神经调节蛋白1。愈合中的斑马鱼心脏又比正常情况拥有更多神经调节蛋白1。因此这明确表明,这种神经调节蛋白可能发挥了作用,但是我们还需要就此做更多研究。”

    The next step will be to test the regenerative abilities of zebrafish ECM on larger mammals.
    科学家们下一步将会在大型哺乳动物身上测试斑马鱼细胞外基质的再生能力。

    I'm Anna Matteo.
    我是安娜·马特奥。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利,未经授权请勿转载,违者必究!)