Switching on Regeneration: Research Progress of Tissue Regeneration Enhancers
LI Qi1, GENG Fang2, ZHANG Ruilin1*
Regeneration is the process by which tissue restores its original shape and function after injury. The regenerative capacity varies widely among different vertebrates. Teleost fish and amphibians have strong regenerative capacity, while mammals have limited capacity to regenerate in most tissues. The reasons behind varied regenerative capacity among species may not be attributed to loss of regeneration-specific genes during evolution. However, activation of regulatory elements in response to tissue damages may account for the key switch of regeneration. Enhancers are cis-acting regulatory elements that are essential for the precise regulation of gene expression. Several tissue regeneration enhancers have been identified in a variety of model organisms and prove to play important roles in regeneration. This review will focus on the important regulatory role of enhancers in tissue regeneration, the prediction and identification of tissue regeneration enhancers, and the specific mechanisms by which tissue regeneration enhancers are activated in response to injury.
CN
EN