The spark of life: electricity and regeneration.
A recent paper shows that a proton pump, the vacuolar-type adenosine triphosphatase (V-ATPase), is necessary for Xenopus tadpole tail regeneration. The V-ATPase is synthesized in distal cells of the regeneration bud as an early response to amputation, and its role in regeneration is specifically to pump H+ out of cells. Although the downstream effects of proton movement are not known, they may be mediated through changes in membrane potential. This work could reopen a consideration of the role of electric fields in regeneration, an issue that has caused much controversy in the past.
Slack
Jonathan M W
JM
Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, McGuire Translational Research Facility, 2001 6th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. slack017@umn.edu
D000818:Animals; D004560:Electricity; D006801:Humans; D012038:Regeneration; D025262:Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases / Q000378:metabolism
D025262:Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases