Emerging patterns in planarian regeneration

In the past decade, the planarian has become an increasingly tractable invertebrate model for the investigation of regeneration and stem cell biology. Application of a variety of techniques and development of genomic reagents in this system have enabled exploration of the molecular mechanisms by which pluripotent somatic stem cells called neoblasts replenish, repair, and regenerate planarian tissues and organs. Recent investigations have implicated evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways in the re-establishment of anterior–posterior (A–P), dorsal–ventral (D–V), and medial–lateral (M–L) polarity after injury. These studies have significantly advanced our understanding of early events during planarian regeneration and have raised new questions about the mechanisms of stem cell-based tissue repair and renewal.