First published online October 26, 2007
Development 134, 2205e (2007)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
From fragments to whole: BMP signals regeneration
Planarians (flatworms) can regenerate from irregularly shaped fragments.
During regeneration, new tissue forms at the wound and existing tissues are
remodelled to make a complete, symmetrical animal. How is this amazing feat
achieved? On p. 4043,
Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado's group report that BMP signalling regulates
several aspects of regeneration in the planarian Schmidtea
mediterranea. The researchers use RNAi knockdown to investigate the role
of smedolloid-1 (a BMP1/Tolloid-like gene), smedsmad4-1 (a
SMAD4-like gene) and smedbmp4-1 (a BMP2/4/DPP-like gene) in
regeneration. These experiments show that BMP signalling is involved in the
formation and dorsal-ventral (DV) patterning of new tissues at the reset
midline of a regenerating fragment. Additional knockdown experiments indicate
that BMP signalling also maintains the DV pattern in undamaged adult tissue.
These and other results lead the researchers to propose that BMP signalling
regulates the dorsal midline of planarians and that the midline has to be
reset by BMP activity before injured animals without left-right symmetry can
regenerate.
Related articles in Development:
- BMP signaling regulates the dorsal planarian midline and is needed for asymmetric regeneration
- Peter W. Reddien, Adam L. Bermange, Adrienne M. Kicza, and Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado
Development 2007 134: 4043-4051.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
