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Early-stage researcher wins coveted grant for their work on limb regeneration in mammals.
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded one of the coveted grants, of 1.8 million Euros across five years, to Can Aztekin, a Max Planck Research Group Leader from the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory in Tübingen. His project, “Signal to Regeneration” (SigReg), will explore the potential for limb regeneration in mammals.
With his project proposal, Can Aztekin, a Max Planck Research Group Leader for the Structural Regeneration Lab at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory in Tübingen, was successful in the recent call for Starting Grants of the European Research Council (ERC). Along with his team, the SigReg proposal will investigate specific cells—called regenerative signalling centre cells—and the factors that enable them to regenerate limbs in amphibians (e.g. frog tadpoles or salamanders such as the axolotl), then apply that knowledge to induce regeneration in mouse digits.
Investigating the Blueprint for Mammalian Regeneration
One of the most enduring questions in biology is why mammals, unlike amphibians, are unable to regenerate their limbs. Can Aztekin's research revealed that the same types of cells that drive regeneration in amphibians are also present during mammalian limb development. This groundbreaking finding provided compelling evidence that mammals possess the genetic and cellular "blueprint" for regeneration, but that this programme remains inactive following injury.
The SigReg project will build on this discovery to investigate what prevents this regenerative blueprint from being activated. Using novel models, stem cell protocols, and adult mouse amputation models, Can Aztekin and his team will determine which environmental and biomechanical factors, such as oxygen levels, block the regeneration process. The ultimate goal is to see if grafting these regenerative cells can induce a regeneration programme following mouse digit amputations.
Can Aztekin said, “It is a great honor to receive prestigious ERC funding for our project SigReg. Our earlier work focused on understanding how amphibians, such as frog tadpoles and salamanders, regenerate their lost limbs. By systematically characterizing these processes, we were able to establish new experimental models to study regeneration from fresh perspectives. With SigReg, we are now excited to build on this foundation and apply the knowledge learned from frog tadpoles to explore whether regeneration can be induced in adult mammals — and perhaps help turn what once seemed like science fiction into a step closer to reality.”
About the European Research Council (ERC)
The ERC, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe. The ERC is led by an independent governing body, the Scientific Council and part of the Horizon Europe programme.
The ERC awards Starting Grants to outstanding early-stage researchers who want to start an independent career and establish their own working group. In the recent competition of 2025, the ERC awarded Starting Grants in the total amount of EUR 761 million to 478 projects in 25 countries. This competition attracted 3928 proposals. The approval rate of proposals funded in 2025 is 12 percent.
Max Planck Research Group Leader
Structural Regeneration
Dr. Can Aztekin
can.aztekin@tuebingen.mpg.de
Press Office
Beatriz Lucas
presse-bio@tuebingen.mpg.de
https://www.fml.tuebingen.mpg.de/69701/news_publication_25222916_transferred?c=6...
https://keeper.mpdl.mpg.de/d/faedf145ca1943d6ad06/
https://www.fml.tuebingen.mpg.de/63796/aztekin-lab
https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/erc-2025-starting-grants-results
Can Aztekin receives Starting Grant from the European Research Council
Copyright: Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society
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Can Aztekin receives Starting Grant from the European Research Council
Copyright: Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society
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