Now researchers led by Janita Mintcheva, a doctoral student in the Quantitative Developmental Biology lab of Dr. Jan Philipp Junker at the Max Delbrück Center, have shown that the process depends on a finely tuned inflammatory response. The paper is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Using an approach that can analyze nucleic acids in single cells, the team found that immune cells called macrophages are among the earliest responders to injury—they rapidly activate inflammatory programs that help kickstart regeneration. However, the trigger is not just inflammation itself, but its timing and strength that sets the stage for further healing.

“It had previously been shown that perturbing the early response to injury disturbs regeneration,” Mintcheva explains. “This suggested that the early response is integral to setting the tone for later regeneration. But it had not been clear exactly what happened during this early stage.”