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Pluridisciplinary approaches led to the notion that fin regeneration is an intricate phenomenon involving epithelial-mesenchymal and reciprocal exchanges throughout the process as well as interactions between ray and interray tissue. The establishment of a blastema after fin amputation is the first event leading to the reconstruction of the missing part of the fin. Here, we review our knowledge on the origin of the blastema, its formation and growth, and of the mechanisms that control differentiation and patterning of the regenerate. Our current understanding results from studies of fin regeneration performed in various teleost fish over the past century. We also report the recent breakthroughs that have been

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In order to understand the process of ganoine formation on the ganoid scales, scale regeneration has been studied to overcome the lack of a growth series of scale ontogeny. Seven stages of ganoid scale regeneration have been defined over a period of five months in the polypterid fish Calamoichthys calabaricus. The study has been carried out using transmission electron microscopic techniques. After wound healing and differentiation of the osseous basal plate, a layer of vascular dentin is deposited at the upper surface of the basal plate owing to the presence there of odontoblasts closely applied to the dentin. When these cells move away, a close contact is then established between the stratified epidermis and the regenerating scale. Numerous alterations of the epidermal-dermal boundary occur until its disappearance and a thick layer of pre-ganoine is formed. This layer is progressively mineralized; and finally an organic intermediate layer differentiates between the ganoine, which is a hyper-mineralized tissue, and the overlying epidermis. This ultrastructural study demonstrates rather unequivocally the involvement of the inner epidermal layer (IEL) in the appearance and growth of the ganoine. It is suggested that these epidermal cells can be compared functionally to the inner dental epithelium (IDE) described during mammal tooth morphogenesis. Consequently, our results allow us to propose that ganoine can be identified as true enamel, although additional data are necessary to analyze the proteinaceous component or its organic matrix.

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The morphogenetic and ultrastructural features of the dermal skeleton in the pelvic fin bud of a teleost, the rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri, have been examined by light and electron microscopy. The principal structural components observed are lepidotrichia and actinotrichia. Lepidotrichia consist of two parallel and symmetrical bony demirays that form jointed segments within the fin. The demirays calcify in a proximodistal direction within the extracellular collagen network of the basal lamella belonging to the epidermal-dermal interface of the fin. Needle- and plate-like particles of a solid mineral phase appear to be associated with the collagen fibrils and with a fine, granular, interfibrillar material central to the demirays. Cellular processes and membrane-bound vesicles are absent from the regions of calcification. During fin growth, the bony, acellular lepidotrichia are separated from the epidermal-dermal interface by infiltrating mesenchymal cells in proximal fin regions; in distal areas, the lepidotrichia remain within the basal lamella. The actinotrichia are extensive unmineralized rods of elastoidin that occupy the distal margin of the fin and precede the differentiation of lepidotrichia. Once the lepidotrichia form, actinotrichia lie preferentially between their demirays. In some instances, structural interactions are suggested between actinotrichia and lepidotrichia. Considerations of embryologic and structural features of fin components fail to support the hypothesis that individual segments of lepidotrichia are modified scales in all fish.

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In the regenerating newt tail, epimorphic regeneration--which recapitulates morphologically normal embryonic development--proceeds along a rostrocaudal differentiation gradient. Innervation of the new myomeres results from the spinal roots of segments rostral to the amputation plane and from ventral roots emerging from the lateroventral region of the regenerating spinal cord, in which motor neurons are differentiating. Electron microscopy and an indirect immunofluorescence study with anti-glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) confirm that the ventrolateral part of the regenerated ependymal tube gives rise to cells of the ventral root sheath and the spinal ganglia. Anti-GFAP and anti-neurofilament antibodies showed that ependymoglial cells and Schwann cells may play a role in neuronal pathfinding by helping guide and stabilize pioneering axons as they extend toward the myomeres. The carbohydrate epitope NC-1 is expressed in the spinal cord, in sheath cells of the spinal ganglia and in the non-myelin-forming Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system. L1, a Ca++ independent neural cell adhesion molecule, was detected in the axonal compartments of the regenerating spinal cord, on immature and/or non-myelin-forming Schwann cells within the peripheral nervous system (PNS), and on nerve fibers within the regenerate. These immunohistochemical observations collectively support the hypothesis that Schwann cells already present in the blastema could be involved in organizing neural pathways.