Understanding the process of angiogenesis in regenerating earthworm
Top – Mrs. G. Mijithra; Left to right – Dr. S. Johnson Retnaraj Samuel, Dr. Y. Beryl Vedha, Mr. V. Saravanakumar, and Dr. S. Jackson Durairaj; Regeneration and Stem cell Biology Lab, Centre for Molecular and Nanomedical Sciences, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Tamilnadu, India. Bottom – Dr. Weslen Vedakumari Sathyaraj; Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Tamilnadu, India.
The process of blood vessel development from pre-existing vasculature is important for both the organism’s growth and the systematic repair as well as wound healing process. We used earthworms as an animal model system to investigate the angiogenesis during the regeneration process. In comparison to the control group, geraniol (an angiogenesis inhibitor) inhibits the development of both blood vessels formation and regenerating blastemal growth. Furthermore, a decrease in the expression levels of WNT5A and VEGFR2 were observed in the blastema of geraniol-treated worms on day three, relative to the control group. Our findings suggest that geraniol has the ability to inhibit angiogenesis in earthworms, thus causing a significant delay in the regeneration process. Furthermore, we conclude that for studying angiogenesis and screening effective angiogenesis inhibitors as drug candidates, earthworm is an ambient animal model system.
Mijithra Ganesan, Johnson Retnaraj Samuel Selvan Chrityraj, Saravanakumar Venkatachalam, Beryl Vedha Yesudhason, Weslen Vedakumari Sathyaraj, Jackson Durairaj Selvan Christyraj. Understanding the process of angiogenesis in regenerating earthworm. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Animal, 59:467-478, 2023.
