The spatial restrictions of 5′HoxC genes expression are maintained in adult newt spinal cord

Abstract Urodele amphibians are the only adult vertebrates possessing the capacity to regenerate their limbs and tail after amputation. Epimorphic regeneration is characterized by the accumulation of undifferentiated and dividing mesenchymal cells originating from the tissues of the stump, which form a blastema. It has been proposed that the ability to regenerate precisely the amputated structures depends on a ‘positional memory’ of the cells at the level of amputation plane and that a continuum of positional value would be present in adult urodeles along the appendages able to regenerate. Hox genes are good candidates for playing a role in providing the capacity for regeneration and for carrying positional information. Here, we report the cloning of four AbdB -like genes ( Hoxa9, Hoxc10, Hoxc12 and Hoxc13 ) in the newt Pleurodeles waltl (Pw). To analyse their expression pattern along the antero-posterior (AP) axis of adult urodele central nervous system (CNS), we used the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and showed that the 5’ HoxC genes expression pattern conforms to the usual spatial colinearity rule. In addition, the expression level in tail regenerates of PwHoxc13, PwHoxc12, and PwHoxc10 was respectively 20, 7 and 2 fold higher than in adult tail. These last results suggest that 5' HoxC genes could specify positional memory in adult spinal cord (SC) and could be involved in axial patterning of the tail during regeneration.