title: Regulation of lens regeneration by fibroblast growth factor receptor 1.
abstract: Lens regeneration in vivo is restricted to some urodeles only. After removal of the lens, this remarkable event is initiated from the dorsal iris. The pigmented epithelial cells from the dorsal iris dedifferentiate and subsequently transdifferentiate to form the regenerating lens. This property of the dorsal iris implies specific regulation along the dorsal-ventral axis. To date, no known genes are known to be specifically expressed in the dedifferentiating cells and to be involved in lens regeneration. In this paper, we show that FGFR-1 expression and function is correlated with the process of lens regeneration from the dorsal iris. Following lentectomy, FGFR-1 protein is specifically present in the dedifferentiating pigment epithelial cells in the dorsal iris, but is absent from the ventral iris. Subsequently, FGFR-1 protein is present throughout the process of lens regeneration and fiber differentiation. Furthermore, we show that an FGFR-1-specific inhibitor is able to inhibit the process of transdifferentiation and lens regeneration. In this sense, FGFR-1 can be regarded as the first known lens regeneration-associated factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Ohio 45469-2320, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Del Rio-Tsonis
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Trombley
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Tsonis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000502:physiology*; D009673:Notophthalmus viridescens; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis*; D051496:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis*; D012038:Regeneration
chemical_list: D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; C496348:FGFR1 protein, human; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051496:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1