Changes in lactate dehydrogenase zymograms from forelimb and tail regenerates of two species of salamander

Abstract

1. 1. The changes in LDH isozyme pattern of forelimb and tail regenerates in Ambystoma mexicanum and Taricha torosa have been determined by starch gel electrophoresis. 2. 2. Homologous changes occur at both amputation sites for both species. The early blastema yields an isozyme pattern very similar to that of normal skeletal muscle. 3. 3. At the 2–3-digit stage of redifferentiation, the isozyme pattern more closely resembles that of normal heart. 4. 4. As the fully differentiated regenerate regains normal size, the isozyme pattern is again that of normal skeletal muscle. 5. 5. Other tissues or organs taken from animals whose limbs were at the 2–3-digit stage of regeneration yielded normal isozyme patterns. 6. 6. The correlation of the isozyme pattern of the regenerate and its state of differentiation is discussed.