Towards a functional analysis of limb regeneration

Urodeles are unique among vertebrates in their ability to regenerate lost appendages as adults, and thus provide the opportunity to discover how to stimulate regeneration in humans. Recent research has identified a number of important regeneration genes, and analysis of their expression has highlighted the importance of the earliest events in the regeneration cascade. These events regulate the transition of cells from the differentiated state of the mature limb to the proliferative, undifferentiated state of the blastema. Recent breakthroughs in somatic cell transgenesis in the axolotl allows for the functional analysis of the molecules controlling this transition, and will eventually bad to therapeutic interventions to stimulate human regeneration.