Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Whole Body Regeneration

Whole Body Regeneration

Regeneration is the process of restoring injured or lost tissues, organs, or body parts. While simpler organisms generally show greater ability to regenerate their whole body, few complex animals show similarly exceptional regeneration. For example, planarian flatworms have a unique regenerative potential making them a popular study organism among biologists to understand the mechanisms of whole body regeneration. Other organisms, such as hydra, also show extreme regeneration potential;...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

BMP signaling during gastrulation pre-patterns the dorsal spinal cord.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Author Correction: In vitro characterization of the human segmentation clock.

Nature·2026

Same author

Intracellular pH dynamics promotes zebrafish larval tail regeneration.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Single-cell transcriptomics and RNAi screening define a hierarchical program of planarian eye regeneration.

Cell reports·2026

Same author

ZMAP: A single-cell meta-atlas of zebrafish embryonic development reveals a consensus hierarchy of cell identities.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

The Sensory Basis of Planarian Behavior.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Published on: August 6, 2012

Single-cell analysis reveals functionally distinct classes within the planarian stem cell compartment.

Josien C van Wolfswinkel¹, Daniel E Wagner¹, Peter W Reddien¹

¹Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MIT Biology, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.

|July 15, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Planarian flatworms possess distinct stem cell populations. Researchers identified two neoblast classes, zeta and sigma, crucial for regeneration and homeostasis.

More Related Videos

Evaluation of Cancer Stem Cell Migration Using Compartmentalizing Microfluidic Devices and Live Cell Imaging

Evaluation of Cancer Stem Cell Migration Using Compartmentalizing Microfluidic Devices and Live Cell Imaging

Published on: December 23, 2011

Live Imaging Followed by Single Cell Tracking to Monitor Cell Biology and the Lineage Progression of Multiple Neural Populations

Live Imaging Followed by Single Cell Tracking to Monitor Cell Biology and the Lineage Progression of Multiple Neural Populations

Published on: December 16, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Published on: August 6, 2012

Evaluation of Cancer Stem Cell Migration Using Compartmentalizing Microfluidic Devices and Live Cell Imaging

Evaluation of Cancer Stem Cell Migration Using Compartmentalizing Microfluidic Devices and Live Cell Imaging

Published on: December 23, 2011

Live Imaging Followed by Single Cell Tracking to Monitor Cell Biology and the Lineage Progression of Multiple Neural Populations

Live Imaging Followed by Single Cell Tracking to Monitor Cell Biology and the Lineage Progression of Multiple Neural Populations

Published on: December 16, 2017

Area of Science:

Stem cell biology
Regenerative medicine
Invertebrate zoology

Background:

Planarians exhibit remarkable regenerative abilities, driven by neoblasts, a pool of pluripotent stem cells.
Previous studies characterized neoblasts broadly, but functionally distinct subpopulations remained unidentified.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the existence and characteristics of functionally distinct neoblast classes within planarians.
To compare gene expression profiles of neoblasts during homeostasis and regeneration.

Main Methods:

High-dimensional single-cell transcriptional profiling of over a thousand individual planarian neoblasts.
Comparative analysis of gene expression during homeostatic conditions and following injury-induced regeneration.

Main Results:

Identification of two major neoblast classes: zeta (ζ) and sigma (σ).
Zeta-neoblasts are specified cells forming an epidermal lineage, not essential for regeneration.
Sigma-neoblasts are injury-responsive, possess broad lineage potential, and can generate zeta-neoblasts.

Conclusions:

Planarian neoblasts are comprised of at least two functionally distinct cellular compartments.
Sigma-neoblasts act as a reserve population crucial for regeneration, capable of producing specified zeta-neoblasts.