# Mechanisms Driving Regenerative Neurogenesis in Planarians

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2023 · $377,500

## Abstract

Project Summary
Humans regenerate tissue of the brain and spinal cord poorly. Failure to regenerate
missing or damaged cells impedes survival and recovery after neurodegenerative
disease, stroke, traumatic or ischemic injury, or developmental error. Unlike humans,
other animals can effectively repair dramatic injuries or damage within the central
nervous system. Free-living freshwater flatworms called planarians possess
extraordinary regenerative abilities, including flawless regeneration and replacement of
all brain and nerve cord tissues. After tissue loss or damage, planarians remodel
existing tissue and use adult pluripotent stem cells to replace diverse cell types,
including dozens of types of neurons. Planarians create neurons in appropriate ratios
and then repattern and reconnect neurons to targets to restore function. The long-term
goal is to discover the molecular and cellular basis of robust neural regeneration using
planarians. Toward that objective, the first specific aim is to identify and characterize
factors important for regenerative neurogenesis from pluripotent stem cells, focusing
first on regeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Four transcription factor-encoding genes
important for regeneration and maintenance of dopaminergic neuron subtypes have
already been discovered. The following specific aims will provide critical information
about how environmental cues promote brain regeneration by pluripotent stem cells in
vivo. The second specific aim is to test the hypothesis that neurogenesis is upregulated
in planarians after injury, through wound-induced signaling mechanisms. The third
specific aim is to test the hypothesis that planarian neurogenesis is driven by polarity
cues so that new neurons of the correct types are created in the proper locations. The
proposed work in this application is conceptually innovative because of the use of a
highly regenerative model organism to explore regenerative neurogenesis and because
of the development of new molecular and behavioral assays (e.g. DAP-Seq, live prey
assays). The proposed research is significant because it will provide a foundational
understanding of successful neural regeneration in response to injury, with a long-term
goal of identifying pathways or molecular mechanisms that could be leveraged to
improve human regenerative therapies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10641949
- **Project number:** 5R01NS128096-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Rachel Helen Roberts-Galbraith
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $377,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-06-15 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10641949

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10641949, Mechanisms Driving Regenerative Neurogenesis in Planarians (5R01NS128096-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10641949. Licensed CC0.

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