Regeneration (biology)

Sun flower sea star regenerates its arms
Dwarf yellow-headed gecko with regenerating tail

In biology, regeneration is the process of renewal, restoration, and growth that makes genomes, cells, organisms, and ecosystems resilient to natural fluctuations or events that cause disturbance or damage. Every species is capable of regeneration, from bacteria to humans.[1][2] Regeneration can either be complete[3] where the new tissue is the same as the lost tissue,[3] or incomplete[4] where after the necrotic tissue comes fibrosis.[4] At its most elementary level, regeneration is mediated by the molecular processes of gene regulation.[5][6] Regeneration in biology, however, mainly refers to the morphogenic processes that characterize the phenotypic plasticity of traits allowing multi-cellular organisms to repair and maintain the integrity of their physiological and morphological states. Above the genetic level, regeneration is fundamentally regulated by asexual cellular processes.[7] Regeneration is different from reproduction. For example, hydra perform regeneration but reproduce by the method of budding.

The hydra and the planarian flatworm have long served as model organisms for their highly adaptive regenerative capabilities.[8] Once wounded, their cells become activated and start to remodel tissues and organs back to the pre-existing state.[9] The Caudata ("urodeles"; salamanders and newts), an order of tailed amphibians, is possibly the most adept vertebrate group at regeneration, given their capability of regenerating limbs, tails, jaws, eyes and a variety of internal structures.[1] The regeneration of organs is a common and widespread adaptive capability among metazoan creatures.[8] In a related context, some animals are able to reproduce asexually through fragmentation, budding, or fission.[7] A planarian parent, for example, will constrict, split in the middle, and each half generates a new end to form two clones of the original.[10] Echinoderms (such as the starfish), crayfish, many reptiles, and amphibians exhibit remarkable examples of tissue regeneration. The case of autotomy, for example, serves as a defensive function as the animal detaches a limb or tail to avoid capture. After the limb or tail has been autotomized, cells move into action and the tissues will regenerate.[11][12][13]

Ecosystems

Ecosystems can be regenerative. Following a disturbance, such as a fire or pest outbreak in a forest, pioneering species will occupy, compete for space, and establish themselves in the newly opened habitat. The new growth of seedlings and community assembly process is known as regeneration in ecology.[14][15]

Cellular molecular fundamentals

Pattern formation in the morphogenesis of an animal is regulated by genetic induction factors that put cells to work after damage has occurred. Neural cells, for example, express growth-associated proteins, such as GAP-43, tubulin, actin, an array of novel neuropeptides, and cytokines that induce a cellular physiological response to regenerate from the damage.[16] Many of the genes that are involved in the original development of tissues are reinitialized during the regenerative process. Cells in the primordia of zebrafish fins, for example, express four genes from the homeobox msx family during development and regeneration.[17]

Tissues

"Strategies include the rearrangement of pre-existing tissue, the use of adult somatic stem cells and the dedifferentiation and/or transdifferentiation of cells, and more than one mode can operate in different tissues of the same animal. All these strategies result in the re-establishment of appropriate tissue polarity, structure and form."[18]:873 During the developmental process, genes are activated that serve to modify the properties of cell as they differentiate into different tissues. Development and regeneration involves the coordination and organization of populations cells into a blastema, which is "a mound of stem cells from which regeneration begins."[19] Dedifferentiation of cells means that they lose their tissue-specific characteristics as tissues remodel during the regeneration process. This should not be confused with the transdifferentiation of cells which is when they lose their tissue-specific characteristics during the regeneration process, and then re-differentiate to a different kind of cell.[18]

In animals

Annelida

Many annelids are capable of regeneration.[20] For example, Chaetopterus variopedatus and Branchiomma nigromaculata can regenerate both anterior and posterior body parts after latitudinal bisection.[21] The relationship between somatic and germline stem cell regeneration has been studied at the molecular level in the annelid Capitella teleta.[22]

Planaria (Platyhelminthes)

Planarians exhibit an extraordinary ability to regenerate lost body parts. For example, a planarian split lengthwise or crosswise will regenerate into two separate individuals. In one experiment, T. H. Morgan found that a piece corresponding to 1⁄279th of a planarian could successfully regenerate into a new worm. This size (about 10,000 cells) is typically accepted as the smallest fragment that can regrow into a new planarian. Regeneration of planaria is epimorphic regeneration. After amputation, stump cells form blastema.

Amphibians

Simple animals like planarians have an enhanced capacity to regenerate because the adults retain clusters of stem cells (neoblast) within their bodies which migrate to the parts that need healing. They then divide and differentiate to grow the missing tissue and organs back. The process is more complex in vertebrates, but nevertheless, salamanders possess strong powers of regeneration, which begins immediately after amputation. Limb regeneration in the axolotl and newt has been extensively studied and researched.

Limb regeneration in salamanders occurs in two major steps. First, adult cells dedifferentiate into progenitor cells which will replace the tissues they are derived from.[23][24] Second, these progenitor cells then proliferate and differentiate until they have completely replaced the missing structure.[25]

Axolotls can regenerate a variety of structures, including their limbs

After amputation, the epidermis migrates to cover the stump in 1–2 hours, forming a structure called the wound epithelium (WE).[26] Epidermal cells continue to migrate over the WE, resulting in a thickened, specialized signaling center called the apical epithelial cap (AEC).[27] Over the next several days there are changes in the underlying stump tissues that result in the formation of a blastema (a mass of dedifferentiated proliferating cells). As the blastema forms, pattern formation genes – such as HoxA and HoxD – are activated as they were when the limb was formed in the embryo.[28][29] The positional identity of the distal tip of the limb (i.e. the autopod, which is the hand or foot) is formed first in the blastema. Intermediate positional identities between the stump and the distal tip are then filled in through a process called intercalation.[28] Motor neurons, muscle, and blood vessels grow with the regenerated limb, and reestablish the connections that were present prior to amputation. The time that this entire process takes varies according to the age of the animal, ranging from about a month to around three months in the adult and then the limb becomes fully functional.

In spite of the historically few researchers studying limb regeneration, remarkable progress has been made recently in establishing the neotenous amphibian the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) as a model genetic organism. This progress has been facilitated by advances in genomics, bioinformatics, and somatic cell transgenesis in other fields, that have created the opportunity to investigate the mechanisms of important biological properties, such as limb regeneration, in the axolotl.[30] The Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center (AGSC) is a self-sustaining, breeding colony of the axolotl supported by the National Science Foundation as a Living Stock Collection. Located at the University of Kentucky, the AGSC is dedicated to supplying genetically well-characterized axolotl embryos, larvae, and adults to laboratories throughout the United States and abroad. An NIH-funded NCRR grant has led to the establishment of the Ambystoma EST database, the Salamander Genome Project (SGP) that has led to the creation of the first amphibian gene map and several annotated molecular data bases, and the creation of the research community web portal.[31]

Researchers at Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University, have published that when macrophages, which eat up material debris,[32] were removed, salamanders lost their ability to regenerate and formed scarred tissue instead.[33]

Mammals

The mechanism for regeneration in Murphy Roths Large (MRL) mice has been found, and is related to the deactivation of the p21 gene.[34][35]

At least two species of African Spiny Mice, Acomys kempi and Acomys percivali, are capable of completely regenerating the autotomically released or otherwise damaged tissue. These species can regrow hair follicles, skin, sweat glands, fur and cartilage.[36]

Adult mammals have limited regenerative capacity compared to most vertebrate embryos/larvae, adult salamanders and fish.[37] But the regeneration therapy approach of Robert O. Becker, using electrical stimulation, has shown promising results for rats [38] and mammals in general.[39]

The MRL mouse is a strain of mouse that exhibits remarkable regenerative abilities for a mammal. Study of the regenerative process in these animals is aimed at discovering how to duplicate them in humans.

By comparing the differential gene expression of scarless healing MRL mice and a poorly-healing C57BL/6 mouse strain, 36 genes have been identified that are good candidates for studying how the healing process differs in MRL mice and other mice.[40][41]

The regenerative ability of MRL mice does not, however, protect them against myocardial infarction; heart regeneration in adult mammals (neocardiogenesis) is limited, because heart muscle cells are nearly all terminally differentiated. MRL mice show the same amount of cardiac injury and scar formation as normal mice after a heart attack.[42] However, recent studies provide evidence that this may not always be the case, and that MRL mice can regenerate after heart damage.

Regeneration in humans

The regrowth of lost tissues or organs in the human body is being researched. Some tissues such as skin regrow quite readily; others have been thought to have little or no capacity for regeneration, but ongoing research suggests that there is some hope for a variety of tissues and organs.[43] Human organs that have been regenerated include the bladder, vagina and the penis.[44]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Carlson, B. M. (2007). Principles of Regenerative Biology. Elsevier Inc. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-12-369439-3.
  2. ↑ Gabor, M. H.; Hotchkiss, R. D. (1979). "Parameters governing bacterial regeneration and genetic recombination after fusion of Bacillus subtilis protoplasts". Journal of Bacteriology 137 (3): 1346–1353. PMC 218319. PMID 108246.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Min, Su; Wang, Song W.; Orr, William (2006). "Graphic general pathology: 2.2 complete regeneration:". Pathology. pathol.med.stu.edu.cn. Retrieved 2012-12-07. (1) Complete regeneration: The new tissue is the same as the tissue that was lost. After the repair process has been completed, the structure and function of the injured tissue are completely normal
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Min, Su; Wang, Song W.; Orr, William (2006). "Graphic general pathology: 2.3 Incomplete regeneration:". Pathology. pathol.med.stu.edu.cn. Retrieved 2012-12-07. The new tissue is not the same as the tissue that was lost. After the repair process has been completed, there is a loss in the structure or function of the injured tissue. In this type of repair, it is common that granulation tissue (stromal connective tissue) proliferates to fill the defect created by the necrotic cells. The necrotic cells are then replaced by scar tissue.
  5. ↑ Himeno, Y.; Engelman, R. W.; Good, R. A. (1992). "Influence of calorie restriction on oncogene expression and DNA synthesis during liver regeneration". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 89 (12): 5497–5501. Bibcode:1992PNAS...89.5497H. doi:10.1073/pnas.89.12.5497. PMC 49319. PMID 1608960.
  6. ↑ Bryant, P. J.; Fraser, S. E. (1988). "Wound healing, cell communication, and DNA synthesis during imaginal disc regeneration in Drosophila". Developmental Biology 127 (1): 197–208. doi:10.1016/0012-1606(88)90201-1. PMID 2452103.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Brokes, J. P.; Kumar, A. "Comparative Aspects of Animal Regeneration". Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 28: 525–549. doi:10.1146/annurev.cellbio.24.110707.175336.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sánchez, A. A. (2000). "Regeneration in the metazoans: why does it happen?" (PDF). BioEssays 22 (6): 578–590. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-1878(200006)22:6<578::AID-BIES11>3.0.CO;2-#. PMID 10842312.
  9. ↑ Reddien, P. W.; Alvarado, A. S. (2004). "Fundamentals of planarian regenerations". Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology 20: 725–757. doi:10.1146/annurev.cellbio.20.010403.095114. PMID 15473858.
  10. ↑ Campbell, N. A. Biology (4th ed.). California: The Benjamin Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. p. 1206.
  11. ↑ Wilkie, I. (2001). "Autotomy as a prelude to regeneration in echinoderms". Microscopy Research and Technique 55 (6): 369–396. doi:10.1002/jemt.1185. PMID 11782069.
  12. ↑ Maiorana, V. C. (1977). "Tail autotomy, functional conflicts and their resolution by a salamander". Nature 2265 (5594): 533–535. Bibcode:1977Natur.265..533M. doi:10.1038/265533a0.
  13. ↑ Maginnis, T. L. (2006). "The costs of autotomy and regeneration in animals: a review and framework for future research". Behavioural Ecology 7 (5): 857–872. doi:10.1093/beheco/arl010.
  14. ↑ Dietze, M. C.; Clark, J. S. (2008). "Changing the gap dynamics paradigm: Vegetative regenerative control on forest response to disturbance" (PDF). Ecological Monographs 78 (3): 331–347. doi:10.1890/07-0271.1.
  15. ↑ Bailey, J. D.; Covington, W. W. (2002). "Evaluation ponderosa pine regeneration rates following ecological restoration treatments in northern Arizona, USA" (PDF). Forest Ecology and Management 155: 271–278. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(01)00564-3.
  16. ↑ Fu, S. Y.; Gordon, T. (1997). "The cellular and molecular basis of peripheral nerve regeneration". Molecular Neurobiology 14 (1–2): 67–116. doi:10.1007/BF02740621. PMID 9170101.
  17. ↑ Akimenko, M.; Johnson, S. L.; Wseterfield, M.; Ekker, M. (1996). "Differential induction of four msx homeobox genes during fin development and regeneration in zebrafish" (PDF). Development 121 (2): 347–357. PMID 7768177.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Alvarado, A. S.; Tsonis, P. A. (2006). "Bridging the regeneration gap: genetic insights from diverse animal models" (PDF). Nat. Rev. Genet. 7 (11): 873–884. doi:10.1038/nrg1923. PMID 17047686.
  19. ↑ Kumar, A.; Godwin, J. W.; Gates, P. B.; Garza-Garcia, A. A.; Brokes, J. P. (2007). "Molecular Basis for the Nerve Dependence of Limb Regeneration in an Adult Vertebrate". Science 318 (5851): 772–7. Bibcode:2007Sci...318..772K. doi:10.1126/science.1147710. PMC 2696928. PMID 17975060.
  20. ↑ Bely AE (August 2006). "Distribution of segment regeneration ability in the Annelida". Integr. Comp. Biol. 46 (4): 508–18. doi:10.1093/icb/icj051. PMID 21672762.
  21. ↑ Hill SD (December 1972). "Caudal regeneration in the absence of a brain in two species of sedentary polychaetes". J Embryol Exp Morphol 28 (3): 667–80. PMID 4655324.
  22. ↑ Giani VC, Yamaguchi E, Boyle MJ, Seaver EC (2011). "Somatic and germline expression of piwi during development and regeneration in the marine polychaete annelid Capitella teleta". Evodevo 2: 10. doi:10.1186/2041-9139-2-10. PMC 3113731. PMID 21545709.
  23. ↑ Kragl, M (2009). "Cells keep a memory of their tissue origin during axolotl limb regeneration.". Nature 460 (7251): 60–65. doi:10.1038/nature08152. PMID 19571878.
  24. ↑ Muneoka, K (1986). "Cellular contribution from dermis and cartilage to the regenerating limb blastema in axolotls.". Dev Biol. 116 (1): 256–260. doi:10.1016/0012-1606(86)90062-x. PMID 3732605.
  25. ↑ Bryant, S (2002). "Vertebrate limb regeneration and the origin of limb stem cells". Int. J. Dev. Biol 46 (7): 887–896. PMID 12455626.
  26. ↑ Satoh, A; Bryant, SV; Gardiner, DM (2012). "Nerve signaling regulates basal keratinocyte proliferation in the blastema apical epithelial cap in the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum).". Dev Biol 15 (366): 374–381. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2012.03.022. PMID 22537500.
  27. ↑ Christensen, RN; Tassava, RA (2000). "Apical epithelial cap morphology and fibronectin gene expression in regenerating axolotl limbs.". Dev Dyn 217 (2): 216–224. doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0177(200002)217:2<216::aid-dvdy8>3.0.co;2-8. PMID 10706145.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Bryant SV, Endo T, Gardiner DM (2002). "Vertebrate limb regeneration and the origin of limb stem cells". The International journal of developmental biology 46 (7): 887–96. PMID 12455626.
  29. ↑ Mullen LM, Bryant SV, Torok MA, Blumberg B, Gardiner DM (November 1996). "Nerve dependency of regeneration: the role of Distal-less and FGF signaling in amphibian limb regeneration". Development (Cambridge, England) 122 (11): 3487–97. PMID 8951064.
  30. ↑ Endo T, Bryant SV, Gardiner DM (June 2004). "A stepwise model system for limb regeneration". Developmental Biology 270 (1): 135–45. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2004.02.016. PMID 15136146.
  31. ↑ http://www.ambystoma.org
  32. ↑ Souppouris, Aaron (2013-05-23). "Scientists identify cell that could hold the secret to limb regeneration". the verge.com. Macrophages are a type of repairing cell that devour dead cells and pathogens, and trigger other immune cells to respond to pathogens.
  33. ↑ "Do Salamanders' Immune Systems Hold the Key to Regeneration?". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  34. ↑ Bedelbaeva K, Snyder A, Gourevitch D, Clark L, Zhang X-M, Leferovich J, Cheverud JM, Lieberman P, Heber-Katz E; Snyder; Gourevitch; Clark; Zhang; Leferovich; Cheverud; Lieberman; Heber-Katz (March 2010). "Lack of p21 expression links cell cycle control and appendage regeneration in mice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107 (11): 5845–50. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107.5845B. doi:10.1073/pnas.1000830107. PMC 2851923. PMID 20231440. Lay summary – PhysOrg.com.
  35. ↑ Humans Could Regenerate Tissue Like Newts By Switching Off a Single Gene
  36. ↑ Ashley W. Seifert, Stephen G. Kiama et al. (2011-11-27). "Skin shedding and tissue regeneration in African spiny mice (Acomys)". Nature 489. pp. 561–565. doi:10.1038/nature11499. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
  37. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/how-regeneration-works-2013-7
  38. ↑ Becker RO (Jan 1972). "Stimulation of Partial Limb Regeneration in Rats" (PDF). Nature 235 (14): 109–111. Bibcode:1972Natur.235..109B. doi:10.1038/235109a0.
  39. ↑ Becker RO (May 1972). "Electrical stimulation of partial limb regeneration in mammals". Bull N Y Acad Med 48 (4): 627–41. PMC 1806700. PMID 4503923.
  40. ↑ Masinde G, Li X, Baylink DJ, Nguyen B, Mohan S (April 2005). "Isolation of wound healing/regeneration genes using restrictive fragment differential display-PCR in MRL/MPJ and C57BL/6 mice". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 330 (1): 117–22. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.02.143. PMID 15781240.
  41. ↑ Mansuo L. Hayashi, B. S. Shankaranarayana Rao, Jin-Soo Seo, Han-Saem Choi, Bridget M. Dolan, Se-Young Choi, Sumantra Chattarji, and Susumu Tonegawa; Rao; Seo; Choi; Dolan; Choi; Chattarji; Tonegawa (July 2007). "Inhibition of p21-activated kinase rescues symptoms of fragile X syndrome in mice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (27): 11489–94. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10411489H. doi:10.1073/pnas.0705003104. PMC 1899186. PMID 17592139.
  42. ↑ Abdullah I, Lepore JJ, Epstein JA, Parmacek MS, Gruber PJ (Mar–April 2005). "MRL mice fail to heal the heart in response to ischemia-reperfusion injury". Wound Repair Regen 13 (2): 205–208. doi:10.1111/j.1067-1927.2005.130212.x. PMID 15828946. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  43. ↑ Min, Su; Wang, Song W.; Orr, William (2006). "Graphic general pathology: 2.2 complete regeneration:". Pathology. pathol.med.stu.edu.cn. Retrieved 2013-11-10. After the repair process has been completed, the structure and function of the injured tissue are completely normal. This type of regeneration is common in physiological situations. Examples of physiological regeneration are the continual replacement of cells of the skin and repair of the endometrium after menstruation. Complete regeneration can occur in pathological situations in tissues that have good regenerative capacity.
  44. ↑ Mohammadi, Dara (4 October 2014). "Bioengineered organs: The story so far…". theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 March 2015.

Sources

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External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Regeneration.