title: A functional genomics screen identifies an Importin-α homolog as a regulator of stem cell function and tissue patterning during planarian regeneration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Planarians are renowned for their regenerative capacity and are an attractive model for the study of adult stem cells and tissue regeneration. In an effort to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying planarian regeneration, we performed a functional genomics screen aimed at identifying genes involved in this process in Schmidtea mediterranea.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used microarrays to detect changes in gene expression in regenerating and non-regenerating tissues in planarians regenerating one side of the head and followed this with high-throughput screening by in situ hybridization and RNAi to characterize the expression patterns and function of the differentially expressed genes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Along with five previously characterized genes (Smed-cycD, Smed-morf41/mrg-1, Smed-pdss2/dlp1, Smed-slbp, and Smed-tph), we identified 20 additional genes necessary for stem cell maintenance (Smed-sart3, Smed-smarcc-1, Smed-espl1, Smed-rrm2b-1, Smed-rrm2b-2, Smed-dkc1, Smed-emg1, Smed-lig1, Smed-prim2, Smed-mcm7, and a novel sequence) or general regenerative capability (Smed-rbap46/48-2, Smed-mcm2, Smed-ptbp1, and Smed-fen-1) or that caused tissue-specific defects upon knockdown (Smed-ddc, Smed-gas8, Smed-pgbd4, and Smed-b9d2). We also found that a homolog of the nuclear transport factor Importin-α plays a role in stem cell function and tissue patterning, suggesting that controlled nuclear import of proteins is important for regeneration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Through this work, we described the roles of several previously uncharacterized genes in planarian regeneration and implicated nuclear import in this process. We have additionally created an online database to house our in situ and RNAi data to make it accessible to the planarian research community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. ahubert@siue.edu.|Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, 62026-0001, USA. ahubert@siue.edu.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hubert
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. jordanahenderson@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jordana M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. martiswcowles@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Martis W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Cowles
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. kel.g.ross@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kelly G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Biological and Medical Informatics Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. mwhagen85@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. iamchrista@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. cszeterlak@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Claudia J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Szeterlak
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA. rzayas@mail.sdsu.edu.
authors.forename: Ricardo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Zayas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018390:Gene Targeting; D049751:Genome, Helminth; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010932:Planarians / Q000502:physiology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012038:Regeneration / Q000235:genetics*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D028901:alpha Karyopherins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D028901:alpha Karyopherins