SRA

In situ regeneration is urgently required for clinical purposes, however, due to limited understanding of the biological mechanism, such powerful biotechnology is still unavailable for most tissues. Axolotl Ambystoma mexicanum is an ideal study model, since its anatomical similarity of its limbs to human limbs and to its superior capability of regenerate entire multi-tissue structures in situ, including limb, tail, cardiac muscle and retina. This unique capacity offers an important model system to study the molecular and cellular mechanism underlying complex tissue regeneration. Upon limb amputation, epidermal cells from adjacent sites immediately respond and migrate to cover the wound area within 24 hours1-3, underneath the newly formed epidermis, multiple types of cells start to migrate and proliferate to form limb bud tissue named blastema, a mass of cells capable of growth and regeneration into organs or body parts, which then keeps proliferating while the cells inside start to de-differentiate and re-differentiate, patterning into completely regenerated limb within 33 days.