Newt insight into regeneration

1 0. 10 83 /j cb. 17 23 it i3 j cb 17 23 it i3 Nicole [email protected] ewt ins ight into regenerat ion L imb regeneration, as seen in amphibians, might not be as far from humanly possible as once thought. On page 433 , Morrison et al. show that the regeneration of newt limbs hinges on the activation of muscle satellite cells—the same sort of stem cells that help to heal our own injured muscles. Unlike the mammalian version, newt satellite cells are separated from muscle fi bers by a basement membrane. As their existence had not been proved until now, scientists thought that regeneration was fueled by the breakdown and dedifferentiation of multinucleated muscle fi bers A newt myofi ber contains a satellite cell (green) that is encapsulated by the basement membrane (red).