The Zebrafish has ability to completely regenerate its retina
and restore vision after injury, and the signals and genes behind this
remarkable feature was discovered by IISER, Mohali. Soon it will help to understand why humans
fail to regenerate the tissues.
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| zebrafish |
What did they find?
A signaling system named as – sonic hedgehog(shh)- in
zebrafish has been reported to aid in developmental and tissue regeneration
activities. Impairing (weakening) this signal made 90 percent of Zebrafish
embryo exhibit a birth defect called cyclopia.
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| Cyclopia |
Cyclopia is a rare disease where species get ‘an eye’
instead of two. Detail understanding of signaling will provide insight into the
rare defect.
The question?
The question remains when zebrafish can use this signal to repair, Why signaling does not bring retina regeneration in humans?
What happened in lab?
RNA sequencing at various time points post retinal injury to
Zebrafish eye. Several other genes were involved,- zic2B, foxn4, mmp9 etc. Zic2b and foxn 4 gener are essential component for
development and tissue regeneration, where mmp9 is an enzyme which makes the
environment congenial for freshly formed cells.
When experimented in Mice, Shh protein can easily bind to its respective receptor and
turn on the sinalling pathways after an acute ratinal injury. However, it is not as effective as it was for fish. However, the discovery is going to help in self repair after sufficient research.
