Accorsi Alice, Pardo Brenda, Ross Eric, Corbin Timothy J, McClain Melainia, Weaver Kyle, Delventhal Kym, Gattamraju Asmita, Morrison Jason A, McKinney Mary Cathleen, McKinney Sean A, Sánchez Alvarado Alejandro
Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, USA.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Nat Commun. 2025 Aug 6;16(1):6698. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-61681-6.
Camera-type eyes are complex sensory organs susceptible to irreversible damage. Their repair is difficult to study due to the paucity of camera-type eye regeneration models. Identifying a genetically tractable organism with the ability to fully regenerate complete camera-type eyes would help overcome this difficulty. Here, we introduce the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata, capable of full regeneration of camera-type eyes even after complete resection. We defined anatomical components of P. canaliculata eyes and genes expressed during crucial steps of their regeneration. By exploiting the unique features of this organism, we successfully established stable mutant lines in apple snails. Our studies reveal that, akin to humans, pax6 is indispensable for eye development in apple snails, establishing this as a research organism to unravel the mechanisms of camera-type eye regeneration. This work expands our understanding of complex sensory organ regeneration and offers a way to explore this process.
摄像头型眼睛是复杂的感觉器官，易受不可逆损伤。由于摄像头型眼睛再生模型的匮乏，其修复研究颇具难度。鉴定一种能够完全再生完整摄像头型眼睛的遗传易处理生物，将有助于克服这一困难。在此，我们介绍苹果螺（Pomacea canaliculata），即使在完全切除后，它也能完全再生摄像头型眼睛。我们定义了苹果螺眼睛的解剖结构成分以及眼睛再生关键步骤中表达的基因。通过利用这种生物的独特特性，我们成功地在苹果螺中建立了稳定的突变系。我们的研究表明，与人类相似，Pax6对苹果螺的眼睛发育不可或缺，这使苹果螺成为一种用于揭示摄像头型眼睛再生机制的研究生物。这项工作扩展了我们对复杂感觉器官再生的理解，并提供了一种探索这一过程的方法。
