Abstract
Echinoderms comprise a group of animals with impressive regenerative capabilities. They can replace complex internal organs following injury or autotomy. In holothurians or sea cucumbers, cellular processes of intestinal regeneration have been extensively studied. The molecular machinery behind this faculty, however, remains to be understood. Here we assembled and annotated a de novo transcriptome using RNA-seq data consisting of regenerating and non-regenerating intestinal tissues from the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima. Comparisons of differential expression were made using the mesentery as a reference against 24 h and 3 days regenerating intestine, revealing a large number of differentially expressed transcripts. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analysis showed evidence of increasing transcriptional activity. Further analysis of transcripts associated with transcription factors revealed diverse expression patterns with mechanisms involving developmental and cancer-related activity that could be related to the regenerative process. Our study demonstrates the broad and diversified gene expression profile during the early stages of the process using the mesentery as the focal point of intestinal regeneration. It also establishes the genes that are the most important candidates in the cellular processes that underlie regenerative responses.
Highlights
Echinoderms comprise a group of animals with impressive regenerative capabilities
Sea cucumbers have been attractive for intestinal regeneration studies because of their innate capacity of expelling their digestive tract in a process known as evisceration, which is followed by its regeneration
The regenerating mesentery at 1 and 3 days after evisceration is made of the same tissues, but have undergone some changes in the differentiated state of its cells, and, as regeneration advances more undifferentiated cells are found in the area where the new intestine will form
Summary
Echinoderms comprise a group of animals with impressive regenerative capabilities. They can replace complex internal organs following injury or autotomy. Understanding the limitations of this capability has become an important goal in improving health conditions related to tissue and organ functional maintenance[2] Discerning this process requires a clear understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive the cellular functions responsible for regeneration. Organisms with astonishing regenerative capacities are scattered among basal metazoan lineages and in various lophotrochozoan and deuterostome phyla The latter encompasses a wide group of organisms that includes vertebrates along with tunicates, echinoderms, hemichordates, and cephalochordates. Sea cucumbers have been attractive for intestinal regeneration studies because of their innate capacity of expelling their digestive tract in a process known as evisceration, which is followed by its regeneration. The torn edges at the distal part of the mesentery acquire
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