# Regulation of cell fate specification to regenerate complex sensory organs

> **NIH GM R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2026 · $393,008

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Some animals have very robust regenerative capacities while others, like humans, have more limited
ones. The severity of the injury, as well as the type of the tissue damaged and the animal age, can all
impact the regeneration outcomes. Sensory organs are of particular interest to regenerative medicine,
as they play a fundamental role in collecting information from our surrounding environment, are
composed of multiple cell types, some of these highly specialized, and are directly connected to the
central nervous system. Because of this complexity and the scarcity of animals that can robustly
regenerate them as adults, we did not have the systems and tools to answer several core questions on
this topic. To uncover the molecular mechanisms driving the complete regeneration of sensory organs,
we use a freshwater apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, that has the extraordinary ability to fully
regenerate its complex eyes and its cephalic tentacles in only a few weeks. After sequencing the P.
canaliculata genome, I developed methods to assess their gene function through CRISPR/Cas9
mutagenesis and mRNA overexpression and collected transcriptomic datasets during the regeneration
of the eyes. The proposed project focuses on the mechanisms regulating cell fate specification during
the complete regeneration of different complex sensory organs in adult animals. To achieve this, we will
take advantage of the possibility to compare the regeneration of two different sensory organs in apple
snails: the cephalic tentacles and the eyes. We will take a two-pronged approach: (1) We will establish
at what stage the regeneration programs of the two injury paradigms diverge by identifying similarities
and differences in the transcriptional responses following eye and tentacle amputation. This will allow us
to distinguish between a general regeneration program and organ-specific ones. (2) We will determine
the regulatory regions that orchestrate the regeneration of complex 

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11272249
- **Project number:** 1R35GM162505-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Alice  Accorsi
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** GM
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $393,008
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2026-03-01T00:00:00 → 2030-12-31T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11272249

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11272249, Regulation of cell fate specification to regenerate complex sensory organs (1R35GM162505-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-14 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11272249. Licensed CC0.

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