Date Available

11-30-2016

Year of Publication

2015

Degree Name

Master of Biological Science (MBioSci)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. Ashley W. Seifert

Abstract

Tissue regeneration in salamanders is a robust process that is not easily interrupted or altered. Therefore, inhibiting regeneration provides a means to interrogate the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating this complex event. Here we show that application of a relatively low concentration of beryllium nitrate solution (100mM) causes a delay in skin regeneration and severely alters normal limb regeneration. We provide evidence showing a beryllium-induced reduction in dermal fibroblast migration in vivo and in vitro. We link this phenomenon to delayed regeneration of the skin and abnormal blastema formation resulting in limb patterning defects during regeneration. Though our results show a slight reduction in fibroblast proliferation during the early stages of limb regeneration, we attribute this to an overall reduction in fibroblast presence at the site of injury. Keratinocytes appeared unresponsive to beryllium treatment with the rates of re-epithelialization and proliferation not significantly different between treatment and control groups. Taken together, these data reinforce a necessary role for fibroblasts during tissue regeneration and show that beryllium nitrate inhibits normal fibroblast behavior.

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