Whole body regeneration deploys a rewired embryonic gene regulatory network logic.

ABSTRACT: A long-held hypothesis in regeneration proposes that developmental processes are re-deployed during regeneration. To investigate this, we compared embryonic and regeneration gene regulatory networks (GRN) in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis using transcriptomic time series spanning these two developmental trajectories. Here, we show that regeneration reuses cohorts of the embryonic genes along with a small set of genes whose expression dynamics are specific to regeneration. We identified co-expression modules that are either conserved between embryogenesis and regeneration or specific to regeneration, with the latter linked to cellular mechanisms such as apoptosis, tissue remodeling, and wound healing. Functional assays revealed that apoptosis and cWnt signaling pathways are partiall

SUBMITTER: Andreoni-Pham R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12804838 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature