First published online May 16, 2007
Development 134, 1103e (2007)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Regeneration: location matters
If the tail of a salamander is amputated then, amazingly, it completely
regenerates. But how is a functional central nervous system reconstituted? On
p. 2083, Tanaka and
colleagues identify the neuronal stem cell population that repopulates the
regenerating tail of the urodele amphibian, the axolotl. Using cell fate
mapping and transplantation techniques, they show that a 500 µm region of
the mature spinal cord that abuts the amputated plane generates the neuronal
progenitors required for regeneration. They map the progeny of these
precursors as the regenerating spinal cord extends. Most progeny remain close
to the dorsoventral (D/V) location of the parent cell, but some migrate to
occupy multiple D/V positions, thus acquiring different expression profiles
and fates. The most distally localised cells in the regenerating tail are
molecularly distinct from those in more proximal regions, perhaps indicating
that, in this zone, progenitor identity is destabilised or altered.
Surprisingly, ventral cells in this region can migrate dorsally and exit the
spinal cord into the blastema. The fate of these cells remains to be
determined.
Related articles in Development:
- A clonal analysis of neural progenitors during axolotl spinal cord regeneration reveals evidence for both spatially restricted and multipotent progenitors
- Levan Mchedlishvili, Hans H. Epperlein, Anja Telzerow, and Elly M. Tanaka
Development 2007 134: 2083-2093.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
