Protein expression pattern and analysis of differentially expressed peptides during various stages of tail...

Epimorphic regeneration is a process allowing the animal to regain its lost structure which depends on the resident pluripotent stem cells as well as de-differentiation of existing cells to form multi-potent stem cells. Many studies have been done to understand the appendage regeneration mechanism. The animal model used since decades is an urodele amphibian the axolotl. However, this ability is also seen in some members of reptiles, mainly lizards which on autotomy of tail regain the same by forming a replica of its lost tail. Lizards being closer to mammals are of greater interest and cannot be neglected. Hence, a stage specific protein profiling was undertaken in order to find the peptides playing a major role in epimorphosis. 2-DGE being basic tool for creating a protein profile was used. With advent of newer modern technology, label-free analysis which uses MS/MS was also performed. The study reports the peptides involved in apoptosis, inflammation and ECM remodelling across the stages of lizard tail regeneration for the first time. Apart from these peptides, structural protein, enzymes involved in metabolism have also been highlighted in the current study to give a bigger picture of the processes and the specific peptides required for tail regeneration.