Macrophages are essential for appendage regeneration after amputation in regenerative species. The molecular mechanisms through which macrophages orchestrate blastema formation and regeneration are still unclear. Here, we use the genetically tractable and transparent zebrafish larvae to study the functions of polarized macrophage subsets during caudal fin regeneration. After caudal fin amputati...

Among reptiles, lizards have retained remarkable power of regenerating their tails as part of their adaptation. The healing of the wound is a crucial event which differentiates the regenerating and non-regenerating tissues due to presence of signaling molecules that guide the wound for the regeneration of the lost tail. This crucial event includes signals like FGFs, especially FGF-2, and Wnt pr...

Urogenital anomalies are frequent and correspond to 33% of all congenital anomalies (1). Horseshoe kidney and renal crossed ectopy with fusion are the most frequent renal anomalies (2). Supernumerary kidney is the rarest renal anomaly and it can be encapsulated or totally apart from the original kidney or connected to it by a sheath of connective tissue. Usually the supernumerary kidney is loca...

A sequential morphological study of the initial cellular events in teratoma induction by displaced visceral yolk sac after foetectomy in rats was undertaken. This study led to the observation that apart from proliferation of cells displaying definite endodermal or mesodermal characteristics, a population of poorly differentiated cells appeared some days after the surgical procedure. It is very ...

Wilms' tumor (WT), the embryonic kidney malignancy, is suggested to evolve from a progenitor cell population of uninduced metanephric blastema, which typically gives rise to nephrons. However, apart from blastema, WT specimens frequently contain cells that have differentiated into renal tubular or stromal phenotypes, complicating their analysis. We aimed to define tumor-progenitor genes that fu...

Explants of 99 adult newt forelimb blastemata (21to 24-day regenerates) were cultured, with and without implanted dorsal root ganglia, in modified Parker's medium (CMRL-1415) for periods of 72-144 h. Growth and differentiation of the cultured blastemata were compared with ganglionated and non-ganglionated controls fixed at the start of the culture period. The results of these experiments establ...

Wilms tumor (WT) blastema retains gene expression profiles characteristic of the multipotent nephron progenitor pool, or cap mesenchyme (CM), in the developing kidney. As a result, WT blastema and the CM are believed to represent contextual analogues of one another. Sine oculis homeobox 2 (SIX2) is a transcription factor expressed specifically in the CM, provides a critical mechanism for CM sel...

Following a period of neglect, there has been a resurgence of interest in Drosophila imaginal discs as a model with which to analyze the relationships between growth and pattern formation during regeneration. To broaden our understanding of this process, we used cell lineage techniques to trace the origin of blastema cells and the early and late boundaries of the blastema in regenerating 3/4 wi...