Endogenous repair processes

Endogenous repair processes encompass the innate biological mechanisms used by the body to restore cellular and tissue homeostasis following injury, infection, or genetic damage (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2017). These processes include DNA repair pathways, such as base excision repair and homologous recombination, as well as tissue-level responses like the activation of resident stem cell populations and wound healing cascades (NIH, 2021). In many pathological states, including neurodegeneration and chronic heart failure, these natural repair mechanisms are either overwhelmed or suppressed by inhibitory microenvironments (Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2020). Therapeutic interventions often aim to augment these processes by delivering growth factors, modulating epigenetic states, or inhibiting negative regulators of regeneration (PubMed, 2019). However, because these pathways are closely linked to cell cycle control, their therapeutic manipulation poses significant risks, most notably the potential for malignant transformation and uncontrolled cellular proliferation (StatPearls, 2023).

Other names

Endogenous regenerationInnate healing mechanismsSelf-repair processesTissue repair and regenerationEndogenous recovery

Enhancement of innate regenerative capacity through the activation of endogenous stem cells, modulation of growth factor signaling (e.g., VEGF, PDGF), or the inhibition of DNA repair enzymes to induce synthetic lethality in oncology.