Regeneration of the Gecko Heart

What can humans regenerate

Liver, blood cells, skin cells and finger tips

Explain the defense of the gecko

If a lizard is endangered the tail will detach and it will continue moving while the gecko runs away

Explain the blastema

Bunch of cells that are highly proliferated (go to new tissue) which make sure no pathogen enters and no water loss to environment

Proliferating cells give rise to

New tissues

How does cardiac self-repair vary across vertebrates

Mammals can only form scars while zebrafish can regenerate hearts

Explain the heart of the gecko

3 chambered where both atria dump blood into the one ventricle

Gecko cardiomyocytes

Proliferate and are spongy inside (fish)

What are cardiomyocyte attributes of mammals

Regeneration incompetent, Polyploid = low proliferation rates and are larger, deals with metabolic demands (protein synth), warm bloods

Explain the cardiomyocyte attributes of zabrafish

Regeneration competent, Diploid which routinely proliferate and are small

Explain gecko cardiomyocytes

Diploid ploidy- measured by quantifying the fluorescence intensity

More fluorescent = more dna

Explains cryoinjury experiment

Liquid nitrogen probe kills heart tissue in the area and the cardiac blastema restores damaged tissue

What part of the wound does most work during proliferation

Adjacent myocardium

Define the difference bw the surgery gecko w the surgery + injury gecko

Surgery + injury: not pumping blood efficiently but was restored to normal after awhile

Surgery: Pump blood normally

Define the importance of this concept

Expands the comparative framework of heart regeneration

Demonstrates the shared ability to replace cardiomyocytes across evolution