Inhibition of SoxB2 or HDACs suppresses<i>Hydractinia</i>head regeneration by affecting blastema formation

Abstract

Regeneration has long been known to occur in the cnidarian <i>Hydractinia</i>. This process refers to its ability to regrow structures, i.e a head, lost by injury, a phenomenon that depends on the migration of proliferative cells to the site of injury, and the formation of a blastema, a mass of undifferentiated cells that will restore the missing head tissues. In our study, we showed that members of SoxB transcription factors and HDACs are involved in the regulation of <i>Hydractinia</i> neurogenesis in tissue homeostasis and regeneration. Particularly, we revealed that knockdown of SoxB2 or Hdac2 (a class I HDAC) knockdown, or inhibition of HDAC activity, suppress head regeneration. Here, we show that SoxB2 knockdown, or the inhibition of HDACs activity by TSA, a HDAC Class I and II inhibitor, interfere with head regeneration by affecting the migration of proliferative cells and the formation of a proliferative blastema.