Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Pharmacological and Functional Genetic Assays to Manipulate Regeneration of the Planarian Dugesia japonica
Published on: August 31, 2011
smedinx-11 is a planarian stem cell gap junction gene required for regeneration and homeostasis
Néstor J Oviedo1, Michael Levin
1Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, Forsyth Institute, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
The largely unknown mechanisms that regulate adult stem cells probably involve signals from neighboring differentiated cells. Gap junction channels providing direct cell-cell communication via small molecules are a crucial component of morphogenesis and normal physiology. However, no specific gap junction protein has yet been functionally linked to adult/somatic stem cell behavior in vivo or to organ regeneration. We report the identification and characterization of smedinx-11--an innexin gap junction channel gene expressed in the adult stem cells (neoblasts) of the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. smedinx-11 RNAi treatment inhibits regeneration and abrogates neoblast maintenance. Moreover, smedinx-11 expression is enriched in an irradiation-sensitive subpopulation (;X2') and is required for proper expression of other stem cell-specific markers. Analyses of the smedinx-11 downregulation phenotype revealed a striking anterior-posterior neoblast gradient. Our data demonstrate a novel role for gap junction proteins and suggest gap junction-mediated signaling as a new and tractable control point for adult, somatic stem cell regulation.
Related Concept Videos
Whole Body Regeneration
Role Of Notch Signalling In Intestinal Stem Cell Renewal
Direct cell-to-cell contact is needed for the activation of Notch signaling. The signal is initiated when a notch ligand binds to a receptor on an adjacent cell, also...
Renewal of Intestinal Stem Cells
Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell
Notch Signaling Pathway
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not until 1985...
Overview of Regeneration and Repair
Regeneration
All animals have varying degrees of...

