title: In vivo cell and tissue dynamics underlying zebrafish fin fold regeneration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Zebrafish (Danio rerio) has a remarkable capacity to regenerate many organs and tissues. During larval stages the fin fold allows the possibility of performing long time-lapse imaging making this system very appealing to study the relationships between tissue movements, cell migration and proliferation necessary for the regeneration process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Through the combined use of transgenic fluorescently-labeled animals and confocal microscopy imaging, we characterized in vivo the complete fin fold regeneration process. We show, for the first time, that there is an increase in the global rate of epidermal growth as a response to tissue loss. Also enhanced significantly is cell proliferation, which upon amputation happens in a broad area concerning the amputation level and not in a blastema-restricted way. This reveals a striking difference with regard to the adult fin regeneration system. Finally, an accumulation of migratory, shape-changing fibroblasts occurs proximally to the wound area, resembling a blastemal-like structure, which may act as a signaling center for the regeneration process to proceed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide a novel in vivo description of fundamental mechanisms occurring during the fin fold regeneration process, thereby contributing to a better knowledge of this regenerative system and to reveal variations in the epimorphic regeneration field.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mateus
authors.forename: Telmo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Joana Esteves
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: de Lima
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pascoal
authors.forename: Leonor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saúde
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jacinto
mesh_terms: D000205:Actomyosin / Q000378:metabolism; D058500:Animal Fins / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D004817:Epidermis / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D053495:Osteopontin / Q000378:metabolism; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D053495:Osteopontin; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D000205:Actomyosin