Paris Riggle Biology, Biomedical
Ryan King Professor of Biology
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Abstract
Planarians have long fascinated scientists with their incredible capacity for regeneration. Following injury, the abundant population of stem cells in planarians undergo dynamic changes in proliferation rate and differentiation. One approach to better understanding the regeneration process in planarians is to identify genes showing dynamic expression following injury. Here we have used next-generation RNA sequencing to identify a gene, Smed-RPESP, that shows dynamic upregulation following various injuries and begin characterizing its requirements
during the regeneration process. We found that Smed-RPESP could play a role in signaling the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells during tissue remodeling.
