A special protein helps the real vortex regenerate

a real vortex. Photo Credit: iStock.com/tonaquatic
Although not usually as big as an apple seed, the real vortex is an enviable object in the animal kingdom. If you cut them into ten pieces, each one will eventually regenerate into a whole new worm - a stunning feat of regeneration that transcends most animals. Now, researchers have identified the cells that initiate the process and a key protein.
Zayas, a developmental biologist at California State University in San Diego who was not involved in the study, said the discovery was "a major breakthrough in the field."
have known for decades that a group of nonsexual stem cells called myoblasts can help the real vortex regenerate. But they didn't figure out what type of myoblast produced the magic. So Alejandro Sanchez Alvarado, a developmental biologist at the Stowas Institute of Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri, used new technology to isolate individual cells and describe their genetic activity.
The study led him and colleagues to identify 12 possible candidate cell types with cell regeneration, which have an unusual protein on their surface, similar to a cell surface molecule called trans-membrane four proteins that are associated with human tumors -- proteins that help tumor cells spread throughout the body.
by crafting a fluorescent marker and tracking it in the cross-membrane tetumin of the real vortex, the researchers were able to isolate a cell type called myoblast subtype 2 (Nb2) for further testing.
team reported in the June 14 issue of
that the number of Nb2 cells increased rapidly as they cut open the real vortex and tracked its wound recovery. The cells healed the wound caused by the cut. In another experiment, Nb2 cells were injected separately to multiply and diversify, saving the real vortex that was given lethal doses of radiation.
Nb2 cells are a special type of stem cell. In other organisms, only the first cells of a developing embryo (known as "all-round cells") can form all tissues of the body. In later growth, stem cells in humans and other animals can only form a limited cell type (called erythration) or a single cell type. "Somehow, the real vortex retains some cells" and can be any type of cell they want, explains Sanchez Alvarado.
Sanchez Alvarado and colleagues found that Nb2 cells were always present in the entire real vortex. But they only increased gene activity in injured individuals to produce transfilm four proteins. And the protein seems crucial -- the real vortex did not recover when researchers added muscle cells to the dying real vortex, which does not produce transfilm-four proteins.
it's not clear why the protein is so important, but it appears to be related to cell-to-cell communication, the researchers said. The protein's role in spreading cancer cells suggests that it can also help cells reach areas where the real vortex needs to be repaired.
with antibodies that can label and isolate Nb2 cells, Sanchez Alvarado and others can now learn more about how trans-membrane typroteins work and what activates the former in these cells.
researchers have also made progress in obtaining molecular details of regeneration. Last month, Peter Reddien, a developmental biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, reported in the journal Science that his team had tracked the genetic activity of each cell as the real vortex regenerated. Another team did a similar study.
is eager to return to his research to see if his team can identify Nb2 cell types in a comprehensive look at all cells. "It's too early to say how these findings will translate into treatments to repair parts of the human body." "But finding the mechanisms that lead to natural regeneration is a good place to start," Reddien said. (Source: Zhao Xixi, China Science Daily)