In a study published today in the scientific journal BMC Genomics, ASU and TGen scientists for the first time identified three microRNAs — which turn genes on and off — that are associated with the regeneration of tails in the green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis.
Using
«Since microRNAs are able to control a large number of genes at the same time, like an orchestra conductor leading the musicians, we hypothesized that they had to play a role in regeneration," said senior author Dr. Kenro Kusumi, a Professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences and Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and an adjunct faculty member at TGen. «Our earlier work found that hundreds of genes are involved in regeneration, and we are very excited to study these three new microRNAs.»
Dr. Elizabeth Hutchins, a
«It is the translational nature of this work — how it could eventually be applied to people — that led to my interest in this study," said Dr. Hutchins, who graduated from ASU’s Molecular and Cellular Biology Program. «For example, we currently don’t have the ability to regrow knee cartilage, which would really help someone like my grandmother.»
«This work highlights the importance of tiny RNA molecules in the tissue regeneration process, and showed for the first time an asymmetric microRNA distribution in different portions of the regenerating lizard tails," said Dr. Marco Mangone, a
The research team also included: Dr. Justin Wolter of ASU’s Biodesign Institute and School of Life Sciences; and Dr. Walter Eckalbar at the University of California, San Francisco.
This research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission.
Source: https://www.tgen.org/home/news/2016-media-releases/lizard-tails-point-way-to-human-regeneration.aspx...
