Vertebrate eyes are complex sensory organs, defined as camera-type, constituted by cornea, lens, retina and optic nerve organized in one closed chamber. Until now, we lacked suitable models for investigating the complete regeneration of these complex sensory organs.
The apple snail Pomacea canaliculata not only has camera-type eyes, but they can also fully regenerate after amputation in adults. In this system - for the first time - full regeneration of adult camera-type eyes can be systematically explored at the molecular, cellular and genetic level.
In our laboratory, we apply genetic tools, cutting-edge sequencing techniques and advanced imaging to expand our understanding of adult regeneration and stem cell biology and develop innovative strategies with clear potential for translation to biomedical and tissue engineering fields. We use P. canaliculata as a new platform to discover novel concepts in regeneration, plasticity and evolutionary conservation of the visual system that in the long term can be applied to improve human health.
Find the interplay between regeneration-specific events and embryonic re-deployed elements
Organs are built during embryogenesis (stereotypical events involving the whole body) and can, in some cases, be regenerated in adults (localized response and temporal mismatch with the rest of the body). The two processes share many similarities, but adult organ regeneration also includes wound healing, tissue priming for organ re-growth and reconnection with the pre-existing tissues. We aim to study embryonic development of camera-type eyes to then compare with adult regeneration with the final goal to assess the presence of regeneration-specific elements (i.e., genes, isoforms, cis-regulatory regions) and determine the potential re-deployment of developmental programs.
Determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms that orchestrate regeneration of visual systems
The full eye bulb amputation in P. canaliculata represents the ideal experimental system to study molecular signaling and cell dynamics of camera-type eye regeneration. We aim to identify the cellular source of regeneration by determining the lineages of cells that re-enter the cell cycle (stem cells and/or de-differentiated cells), discover the molecular signals inducing cell proliferation and determine cellular and molecular elements driving correct eye re-patterning.
Discover the mechanisms that provide plasticity of the regeneration response
Damage or loss of a body part can vary in severity and amount of tissue involved. To cope with this variability, regeneration requires a certain degree of plasticity. We aim to study the damage-specific signals used to assess tissue damage, trigger the regeneration of the specific components that have been lost and suppress growth once the organ has been recovered.
Discover the evolutionary relationship of eye formation between different species
Camera-type eyes have evolved in multiple taxa using similar molecular frameworks. We aim to define the core Gene Regulatory Network (GRN) involved in eye development and regeneration in apple snails and use this to expand our knowledge about evolutionary conservation of the visual system. This analysis will provide us with regeneration-specific elements and/or regeneration-induced GRN rewiring that drive camera-type eye regeneration in P. canaliculata. We aim to determine if these elements are conserved and/or functional in species that do not fully regenerate their camera-type eyes, such as cephalopods (shorter evolutionary distances) and vertebrates (e.g., zebrafish or mammals, longer evolutionary distances) and further analyze them in those contexts.