Regeneration of the digestive tract of an anterior-eviscerating sea cucumber, Eupentacta quinquesemita, and the involvement of mesenchymal-epithelial transition in digestive tube formation.

ABSTRACT: Sea cucumbers (a class of echinoderms) exhibit a high capacity for regeneration, such that, following ejection of inner organs in a process called evisceration, the lost organs regenerate. There are two ways by which evisceration occurs in sea cucmber species: from the mouth (anterior) or the anus (posterior). Intriguingly, regenerating tissues are formed at both the anterior and posterior regions and extend toward the opposite ends, and merge to form a complete digestive tract. From the posterior side, the digestive tube regenerates extending a continuous tube from the cloaca, which remains at evisceration. In posteriorly-eviscerating species, the esophagus remains in the body, and a new tube regenerates continuously from it. However, in anterior-eviscerating species, no tubular tissue re

SUBMITTER: Okada A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6588844 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature