Investigating Dynamics of Tissue Regeneration via Live Imaging of Zebrafish Scales
Regeneration occurs throughout the animal kingdom and is a well-studied
feature of many model organisms, yet the field lacks a fundamental understanding of
the real-time dynamics of cell behavior during regeneration. I discuss how existing
knowledge of regeneration may be used to inform efforts to translate these remarkable
feats of animals to human regeneration and present research that uses live imaging to
improve understanding of cell origins and diversification during regeneration in the
scale, focusing specifically on osteoblasts the matrix-depositing cells that divide and heal
bone injuries. I developed an imaging platform to monitor and quantify individual and
collective behaviors of osteoblasts in adult zebrafish scales. I show that a founder pool
of osteoblasts emerges through de novo differentiation within one day of scale plucking,
then diversifies across the primordium by two days after injury, with region-specific
changes in proliferation, cell shape, and cell death rates coincident with acquisition of
mature scale morphology. I also demonstrate a role for Fgf signaling in scale
regeneration and present tools for high resolution imaging studies of basal epidermal
cells during skin and scale injury. These findings demonstrate the value of live imaging
in revealing novel biology and gaining a more complete picture of the many complex
processes that must be elegantly choreographed to achieve tissue regeneration.
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