Regenerative ability from epigenetic theory: how different hydras regenerate their cut-off heads

From the tail of the salamander to the antlers, some animals are born with the ability to regenerate lost body parts.

Even among the regenerative creatures, the hydra-an aquatic animal of the genus Hydra-stands out for its ability to regenerate any part of the body (including the head)

The hydrops are 1 to 3 cm long and are tubular in shape.

Mortazavi led a team of researchers to investigate a long-standing question in the field: whether the genetic and epigenetic processes that guide "reproductive growth" and "regenerative growth" are similar

Usually, researchers studying the regeneration of hydras focus on the activity of a specific gene or biological process

Scientists have conducted multiple experiments.

The reproduction and head regeneration of common hydra depend on their head organizer-a cluster of 50 to 100 cells at the top of the head, which sends signals to nearby cells to differentiate into heads.

According to this study, these epigenetic changes and dynamic models of enhancers and promoters seem to trigger genes at different points in time, depending on the form of head production that the polyp is experiencing

As pointed out in a March article in eLife magazine, a decapitated polyp quickly reassembles its mouth as a survival mechanism

"Despite the different processes, they are still using the same growth factors or genes, but in different ways," lead author of the study, evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Irvine Macias- Aide Muñoz said

This research can only identify genes and transcription factors that may be related, and lead to hypotheses about which genes drive regeneration, germination, or both

Some of this work is already in progress

The heat maps and data sets generated by this new research provide an "important part of the story" on how regeneration first appeared in evolutionary history

The story of the Hydra has been around for a long time: In 1744, Abraham Trumbre first discovered this strange property, and researchers began to study its regenerative ability for the first time

This paper points out that some of the tools necessary for regeneration must have appeared before the phylum to which the Hydra belongs, the phylum Coelenterate, separated from the rest of the animal kingdom

Benham-Pyle said: "We are happy to see all these different creatures have similarities, because it makes it more likely that we can use this biology to help humans