Antler regeneration: a dependent process of stem tissue primed via interaction with its enveloping skin

Deer antlers are unique mammalian appendages in that each year they are cast and fully regenerate from permanent bony protuberances, called pedicles. In a previous study, we found that there is a difference in the degree of association between pedicle bone and its enveloping skin: tight at the distal third and loose at the proximal two thirds of a pedicle stump. The distal part has been termed the "potentiated" region, and the proximal part the "dormant" region. In the present study, pedicle stumps were artificially created in yearling sika deer by cutting off the tissue distal to either the potentiated or the dormant region. A piece of impermeable membrane was then inserted into the space between the bone and the skin of each treated pedicle stump, while the control pedicles had the same surgery without membrane insertion. The results showed that the inserted membrane blocked pedicle skin participation in the process of antler regeneration. All three potentiated bony pedicle stumps regenerated skin-less antlers; whereas, one of the three dormant bony pedicle stumps failed to regenerate any antler tissue. The other two dormant stumps eventually regenerated normal antlers; however, this only occurred after loss of the inserted membrane. No antler tissue regenerated from the dormant stumps while the inserted membrane remained in place (up to 55 days). All control pedicle stumps regenerated normal antlers. Therefore, we conclude that it is the pedicle bone, but not pedicle skin, that gives rise to regenerating antlers, and that pedicle bone can acquire the potential to regenerate an antler only when it is primed via interaction with its enveloping skin.