title: Rethinking the blastema.
abstract: The phenomenon of tissue regeneration has been well documented across many species. Although some possess the capacity to completely restore an entire amputated limb, others are limited to just the distal digit tip. Initiation of limb regeneration has been described to start with the formation of a blastema, the composition of which has long been thought to consist of undifferentiated pluripotent cells derived through the process of dedifferentiation. Competing theories have been proposed, however, including cellular contributions through transdifferentiation and tissue-specific stem cells. Recent studies have now begun to shed light on this controversy, demonstrating tissue resident stem cells to be an evolutionarily conserved measure for limb regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Stanford, Calif. From the Hagey Laboratory for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine, the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, and the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Jeong S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Victor W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Montoro
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Longaker
authors.forename: Derrick C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054337:Cell Dedifferentiation; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D005121:Extremities / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice / Q000502:physiology; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D014562:Caudata / Q000502:physiology*