Abstract
The ability to regenerate whole-body structures has been studied for many decades and is of particular interest for stem cell research due to its therapeutic potential. Several vertebrate and invertebrate species have been used as model systems to study pathways involved in regeneration in the past. Among invertebrates, cephalopods are considered as highly evolved organisms, which exhibit elaborate behavioral characteristics when compared to other mollusks including active predation, extraordinary manipulation, and learning abilities. These are enabled by a complex nervous system and a number of adaptations of their body plan, which were acquired over evolutionary time. Some of these novel features show similarities to structures present in vertebrates and seem to have evolved through a convergent evolutionary process. Octopus vulgaris (the common octopus) is a representative of modern cephalopods and is characterized by a sophisticated motor and sensory system as well as highly developed cognitive capabilities. Due to its phylogenetic position and its high regenerative power the octopus has become of increasing interest for studies on regenerative processes. In this paper we provide an overview over the current knowledge of cephalopod muscle types and structures and present a possible link between these characteristics and their high regenerative potential. This may help identify conserved molecular pathways underlying regeneration in invertebrate and vertebrate animal species as well as discover new leads for targeted tissue treatments in humans.
Highlights
The final functional objective of regeneration is the re-establishment of tissue after injury
LZ wrote for the paragraph “Cephalopod neuro-muscular system,” PI wrote the paragraph “A short overview over the history of cephalopod regeneration research,” MN wrote the paragraph “Molecular pathways underlying cephalopod muscle formation during development,” SF wrote for the paragraph “Molecular pathways underlying arm formation during regeneration.”
Summary
The final functional objective of regeneration is the re-establishment of tissue after injury. Differences in the amino acid sequence and structural conformation of tropomyosin have profound influence on actin affinity and are known to regulate functions of the acto-myosin activity (Hitchcock-DeGregori, 2008) This suggests that sharing the acto-myosin composition and putatively the sliding mechanisms with vertebrate skeletal muscles, the control kinetics of the cross-bridge cycle might be different in cephalopod muscle cells. It has been suggested that the SR is nonessential for the excitation-contraction but might be relevant to other features, such as to enhance and orchestrate the animal body motility (Maryon et al, 1998; Jospin et al, 2002) In these somatic cells the coordination of each muscle element is achieved by physiologically active gap junctions that retains small conductance properties (Phelan and Starich, 2001). The uniform identity and innervation type of muscle cells in all muscle groups, that eventually manifests the same biophysical properties, might make cephalopod arms ideal structures for regeneration, with morphology as their major constraint
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