isl1a coordinates onset and termination of regeneration of the zebrafish lateral line
- 1Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Abstract
Regenerative capacity varies widely across tissues and species. Most regeneration studies have focused on identifying genes and pathways that promote regeneration, whereas mechanisms that inhibit regeneration to enforce organ size control and prevent excessive proliferation remain less well defined. Here, we identify isl1a as a dynamically expressed negative regulator of lateral line hair cell regeneration. isl1a is highly expressed during homeostasis but becomes transiently downregulated following hair cell loss. Loss of isl1a leads to proliferative expansion of support cells, producing enlarged sensory organs with increased hair cell numbers after injury. Mechanistically, isl1a downregulation increases chromatin accessibility at pro-proliferative loci, including AP-1 transcription factors, accompanied by sustained expression of injury- and regeneration-responsive genes. Together, these findings demonstrate that injury-induced downregulation of isl1a promotes the initiation of regeneration, while its subsequent re-expression restricts the duration of the response, thereby fine-tuning hair cell regeneration and maintaining appropriate support cell numbers.
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BibTeX
@article{menesesgiles2026isl1a,
title = {{isl1a coordinates onset and termination of regeneration of the zebrafish lateral line}},
author = {Paloma Meneses-Giles and Kaelan J. Brennan and Nhung T. T. Tran and Aurélie Hintermann and Mark E. Lush and Tatjana Piotrowski},
journal = {npj Regenerative Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41536-026-00489-4},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41536-026-00489-4},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - isl1a coordinates onset and termination of regeneration of the zebrafish lateral line
AU - Paloma Meneses-Giles
AU - Kaelan J. Brennan
AU - Nhung T. T. Tran
AU - Aurélie Hintermann
AU - Mark E. Lush
AU - Tatjana Piotrowski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - npj Regenerative Medicine
DO - 10.1038/s41536-026-00489-4
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41536-026-00489-4
AB - Regenerative capacity varies widely across tissues and species. Most regeneration studies have focused on identifying genes and pathways that promote regeneration, whereas mechanisms that inhibit regeneration to enforce organ size control and prevent excessive proliferation remain less well defined. Here, we identify isl1a as a dynamically expressed negative regulator of lateral line hair cell regeneration. isl1a is highly expressed during homeostasis but becomes transiently downregulated following hair cell loss. Loss of isl1a leads to proliferative expansion of support cells, producing enlarged sensory organs with increased hair cell numbers after injury. Mechanistically, isl1a downregulation increases chromatin accessibility at pro-proliferative loci, including AP-1 transcription factors, accompanied by sustained expression of injury- and regeneration-responsive genes. Together, these findings demonstrate that injury-induced downregulation of isl1a promotes the initiation of regeneration, while its subsequent re-expression restricts the duration of the response, thereby fine-tuning hair cell regeneration and maintaining appropriate support cell numbers.
SN - 2057-3995
ER -