Down-regulate of Djrfc2 causes tissues hypertrophy during planarian regeneration

Abstract Planarians are an ideal model organism for regeneration research due to their amazing ability to regenerate. DNA replication is crucial for genome stability. Replication factor C (RFC), which is a replication factor C-like complex and plays an important role during DNA replication in eukaryotes, has been reported as a wound response factor during planarian regeneration. However, how RFC controls regeneration in planarians by regulating DNA replication remains to be explained. Here, we used a two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) proteomic approach to identify differentially expressed proteins in intact and regenerated planarians. Approximately 132 protein spots showed differences between intact and regenerative tissues. We selected 21 significantly expressed protein spots and processed them using TOF MS analysis. Finally, we cloned three of these candidate genes ( Djhsp70, Djrfc2, Djfaim ), focusing on the function of Djrfc2 during regeneration. We found that the distribution of Djrfc2 tends toward the wound site. RNA interference (RNAi) of Djrfc2 increases the number of dividing cells and the expression level of planarian neoblast marker genes, which may result in hyper-proliferation. Our studies use an available approach to directly study the regeneration dynamic at the protein level and provide further evidence to support a function of Djrfc2 in planarian regeneration.