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Lung injury in axolotl salamanders induces an organ‐wide proliferation response
Author(s) -
Jensen Tyler B,
Giunta Peter,
Schultz Natalie Grace,
Griffiths Jackson M,
Duerr Timothy J,
Kyeremateng Yaa,
Wong Hilary,
Adesina Adeleso,
Monaghan James R
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.315
Subject(s) - axolotl , biology , blastema , lung , regeneration (biology) , neuregulin , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , immunology , anatomy , medicine , signal transduction
Background Ambystoma mexicanum , the axolotl salamander, is a classic model organism used to study vertebrate regeneration. It is assumed that axolotls regenerate most tissues, but the exploration of lung regeneration has not been performed until now. Results Unlike the blastema‐based response used during appendage regeneration, lung amputation led to organ‐wide proliferation. Pneumocytes and mesenchymal cells responded to injury by increased proliferation throughout the injured lung, which led to a recovery in lung mass and morphology by 56 days post‐amputation. Receptors associated with the Neuregulin signaling pathway were upregulated at one and 3 weeks post lung amputation. We show expression of the ligand, neuregulin , in the I/X cranial nerve that innervates the lung and cells within the lung. Supplemental administration of Neuregulin peptide induced widespread proliferation in the lung similar to an injury response, suggesting that neuregulin signaling may play a significant role during lung regeneration. Conclusion Our study characterizes axolotl lung regeneration. We show that the lung responds to injury by an organ‐wide proliferative response of multiple cell types, including pneumocytes, to recover lung mass.