Cell signaling and transcription factor genes expressed during whole body regeneration in a colonial chordate.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The restoration of adults from fragments of blood vessels in botryllid ascidians (termed whole body regeneration [WBR]) represents an inimitable event in the chordates, which is poorly understood on the mechanistic level.

Results

To elucidate mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, a subtracted EST library for early WBR stages was previously assembled, revealing 76 putative genes belonging to major signaling pathways, including Notch/Delta, JAK/STAT, protein kinases, nuclear receptors, Ras oncogene family members, G-Protein coupled receptor (GPCR) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) signaling. RT-PCR on selected transcripts documented specific up-regulation in only regenerating fragments, pointing to a broad activation of these signaling pathways at onse

SUBMITTER: Rinkevich Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2576188 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature