Presenter: Emily Wang
Faculty Sponsor: Catherine D. McCusker
School: UMass Boston
Research Area: Biology
Session: Poster Session 3, 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM, Concourse, B3
ABSTRACT
The ability to regenerate damaged or lost tissue can vary among organisms. In mammals, regenerative capacity is limited. However, the Mexican axolotl is proficient in regeneration and can regenerate size-proportionate limbs in a short period of time. The restoration of pattern is a highly studied topic in axolotl research; however, little is known about the molecular mechanisms behind the restoration of proportional size. Upon continuous amputation of the limb, the resulting regenerate is permanently miniaturized, suggesting that there are limitations in axolotl regeneration from continuous tissue damage (Bryant, 2017). This study aims to compare bone development between the miniaturized limb and the normal limb in injured and uninjured contexts to further characterize the mini limb phenotype. This was accomplished by measuring the radius of injured and uninjured normal and mini limbs, as limb length is dependent on long bone growth. Our results indicate a statistically significant difference in length. Ossification of the radius also differed significantly between groups. The data indicates that the mini limb has deficiencies in bone development and may further elucidate potential causes of the mini limb phenotype.