The aim of our work is to elucidate both the cellular and molecular mechanisms that are involved in regeneration and pattern formation of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. They can be summarized in three specific objectives:

1. Study the genomic and proteomic properties of the neoblasts (totipotent stem cells present in adult Platyhelminthes), to allow us to characterise cell maintenance, lineage, determination and differentiation.
2. Search for and study the different elements of the Wnt and BMP pathways implicated in axial maintenance and determination during regeneration.
3. Functional characterisation of the gene networks that control the morphogenesis of the eyes during regeneration.

 
Web site: http://planarian.bio.ub.es/

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