Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Sci. Signal., 23 February 2010
Vol. 3, Issue 110, p. ra13
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.2000634]

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Apoptotic Cells Activate the "Phoenix Rising" Pathway to Promote Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration

Fang Li1, Qian Huang1,2,3, Jiang Chen4,5, Yuanlin Peng6, Dennis R. Roop4,5, Joel S. Bedford6, and Chuan-Yuan Li1,5,7*

1 Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
2 Center for Laboratory Research, First People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200080, China.
3 National Laboratory for Oncogene and Related Genes Research, Cancer Institute of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200032, China.
4 Department of Dermatology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
5 Charles C. Gates Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
6 Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
7 Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.

Abstract: The ability to regenerate damaged tissues is a common characteristic of multicellular organisms. We report a role for apoptotic cell death in promoting wound healing and tissue regeneration in mice. Apoptotic cells released growth signals that stimulated the proliferation of progenitor or stem cells. Key players in this process were caspases 3 and 7, proteases activated during the execution phase of apoptosis that contribute to cell death. Mice lacking either of these caspases were deficient in skin wound healing and in liver regeneration. Prostaglandin E2, a promoter of stem or progenitor cell proliferation and tissue regeneration, acted downstream of the caspases. We propose to call the pathway by which executioner caspases in apoptotic cells promote wound healing and tissue regeneration in multicellular organisms the "phoenix rising" pathway.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Chuan.Li{at}ucdenver.edu

Citation: F. Li, Q. Huang, J. Chen, Y. Peng, D. R. Roop, J. S. Bedford, C.-Y. Li, Apoptotic Cells Activate the "Phoenix Rising" Pathway to Promote Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration. Sci. Signal. 3, ra13 (2010).

Read the Full Text

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Apoptotic and Nonapoptotic Caspase Functions in Animal Development.
M. Miura (2012)
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 4, a008664
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Toward a blueprint for regeneration.
G. Nachtrab and K. D. Poss (2012)
Development 139, 2639-2642
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Role of Apoptosis-Induced Proliferation for Regeneration and Cancer.
H. D. Ryoo and A. Bergmann (2012)
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 4, a008797
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Beyond the cell: The cell biology of regeneration.
R. S. King and P. A. Newmark (2012)
J. Cell Biol. 196, 553-562
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Interleukin-11 Links Oxidative Stress and Compensatory Proliferation.
T. Nishina, S. Komazawa-Sakon, S. Yanaka, X. Piao, D.-M. Zheng, J.-H. Piao, Y. Kojima, S. Yamashina, E. Sano, T. Putoczki, et al. (2012)
Science Signaling 5, ra5
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Live imaging of apoptosis in a novel transgenic mouse highlights its role in neural tube closure.
Y. Yamaguchi, N. Shinotsuka, K. Nonomura, K. Takemoto, K. Kuida, H. Yosida, and M. Miura (2011)
J. Cell Biol. 195, 1047-1060
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Gut Regeneration in Holothurians: A Snapshot of Recent Developments.
V. S. Mashanov and J. E. Garcia-Arraras (2011)
Biol. Bull. 221, 93-109
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Combinatorial effect of maytansinol and radiation in Drosophila and human cancer cells.
A. Edwards, M. Gladstone, P. Yoon, D. Raben, B. Frederick, and T. T. Su (2011)
Dis. Model. Mech. 4, 496-503
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Macrophages programmed by apoptotic cells promote angiogenesis via prostaglandin E2.
K. Brecht, A. Weigert, J. Hu, R. Popp, B. Fisslthaler, T. Korff, I. Fleming, G. Geisslinger, and B. Brune (2011)
FASEB J 25, 2408-2417
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Quantitative, Noninvasive Imaging of Radiation-Induced DNA Double-Strand Breaks In Vivo.
W. Li, F. Li, Q. Huang, J. Shen, F. Wolf, Y. He, X. Liu, Y. A. Hu, J. S. Bedford, and C.-Y. Li (2011)
Cancer Res. 71, 4130-4137
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Apoptosis, Stem Cells, and Tissue Regeneration.
A. Bergmann and H. Steller (2010)
Science Signaling 3, re8
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Induction of Vertebrate Regeneration by a Transient Sodium Current.
A.-S. Tseng, W. S. Beane, J. M. Lemire, A. Masi, and M. Levin (2010)
J. Neurosci. 30, 13192-13200
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Science Signaling Podcast: 23 February 2010.
C.-Y. Li and A. M. VanHook (2010)
Science Signaling 3, pc5
   Abstract »    Full Text »

To Advertise     Find Products

Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (online), 1945-0877 (print). Pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882