Isolation of a substance activating foot formation in hydra

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

We have developed an assay for a substance from hydra that accelerates foot regeneration in the animal. This substance is specific for the foot as evidenced by the following findings: (1) It is present in the animal as a steep gradient descending from foot to head, paralleling the foot-forming potential of the tissue (2) It does not accelerate head regeneration, nor do the head factors of hydra discovered by Schaller (1973) and Berking (1977) accelerate foot regeneration. We propose that the foot-activating substance is a morphogen responsible for foot formation in hydra. The foot activator can be extracted from hydra tissue with methanol and separated from other known morphogens of hydra by gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. A substance with similar biological and physicochemical properties can be isolated from sea anemones.
Original languageEnglish
Book seriesResults and Problems in Cell Differentiation
Volume6
Issue number5-6
Pages (from-to)297-305
Number of pages9
ISSN0080-1844
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 1977

    Research areas

  • Animals, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Growth Substances, Hydra, Morphogenesis, Regeneration

ID: 33515022