Seminar: A conserved role for reactive oxygen species during early embryonic development and appendage regeneration

Abstract: Enrique’s team are investigating the molecular & cellular mechanisms responsible for scar free wound healing & tissue regeneration in frog embryos & tadpoles. They have shown that tadpole tail amputation induces a sustained production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is necessary for tail regeneration. When ROS production following tail amputation is inhibited, both cell proliferation & growth factor signaling fail to occur normally. Intriguingly, the team have found that fertilization also induces a dramatic increase in ROS production, which is also sustained throughout early embryogenesis. Indeed, if they inhibit or attenuate ROS production following fertilization, cell cycle progression & growth factor signaling are also inhibited or attenuated, respectively. Thus, they have found many remarkable parallels in the induction, maintenance & roles for ROS during tissue regeneration and those following fertilization & during embryogenesis. Indeed, both injury & fertilization seem to set in motion a similar series of events, & as such, they have begun to think of fertilization as an injury, which induces development, in much the same way that injury induces a regenerative response in post-embryonic stages. Thus, Enrique postulates that a successful regenerative response is dependent on a return to an embryonic-like state of cellular oxidation, which facilitates cell cycle progression & growth factor signaling.