An analysis of proliferative activity in innervated and denervated forelimb regenerates of the newt, Notophthalmus viridescens

Pulse and continuous labelling with [3H]thymidine combined with mitotic index determinations provided data on the kinetics of cell cycling in innervated and denervated early and mid-bud forelimb blastemas of the adult newt, Notophthalmus viridescens. Most or all blastema cells cycle during regeneration and are thus part of the proliferative fraction. At any given moment, however, only 26% of the blastema cells are actively progressing through the cell cycle, with the remainder being in a state of transient quiescence (TQ). The small size of the actively cycling (AC) population may in part explain the relatively slow rate of regeneration exhibited by the adult newt. The pulse-labelling index and mitotic index of denervated blastemas paralleled control values for 48h following nerve withdrawal, but both parameters were significantly reduced by 72h. By 5 days postdenervation, cell cycle activity was essentially zero. The combined pulse and continuous labelling data suggest that nerves may be primarily involved in the entry of TQ cells into the AC population, with subsequent progression through the cell cycle being less dependent on innervation. Relative to controls, no early postdenervation increases in TCA-precipitable [3H]thymidine incorporation, pulse-labelling index or mitotic index were observed.