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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Assessment of Calcium Sparks in Intact Skeletal Muscle Fibers
Published on: February 24, 2014
The spark of life: electricity and regeneration
1Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota, McGuire Translational Research Facility, 2001 6th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. slack017@umn.edu
Abstract:
A recent paper shows that a proton pump, the vacuolar-type adenosine triphosphatase (V-ATPase), is necessary for Xenopus tadpole tail regeneration. The V-ATPase is synthesized in distal cells of the regeneration bud as an early response to amputation, and its role in regeneration is specifically to pump H+ out of cells. Although the downstream effects of proton movement are not known, they may be mediated through changes in membrane potential. This work could reopen a consideration of the role of electric fields in regeneration, an issue that has caused much controversy in the past.
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