Regenerative response of different regions of Drosophila imaginal discs

Thanks to the introduction of new methods to induce massive damage under controlled conditions, much information about regeneration in Drosophila imaginal discs has accumulated in recent years. In this review, we discuss results concerning primarily the wing disc, putting emphasis on the different regenerative responses of the wing appendage, which exhibits a robust regenerative potential, and the trunk region, the notum, which regenerates very poorly. The wing disc may be a paradigm of a tissue in which a common original lineage generates cells with distinct regenerative potential. We argue that a key factor in those differences is the activity of the Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) pathway, which functions differently in the appendage and the body trunk.