Cytoskeletal proteins and morphogenesis in planarians

Abstract

Regeneration processes employ a series of differentiative events related to various embryonic
morphogenetic phenomena in which the cytoskeleton plays a fundamental role. Planarians are an
excellent model to study development mechanism because they show an exceptional physiological
morphogenetic plasticity that is also at the basis of their extraordinary regenerative ability. In this
paper we discuss results concerning two cytoskeleton components, actin and tubulin, during
morphogenetic processes of the planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Comparative studies on cytoskeleton
function during morphogenetic processes in evolutionary-distant animal models can offer important
new insights in the fields of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.