• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.253-264
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• 1996

The ultrastructure of spermatozoa in urodeles and primitive anurans was examined and compared. The spermatozoa of urodeles are characterized by seven plesiomorphies in subacrosomal cone, endounclear canal. perforatorium, ring, marginal filament, undulating membrane and tail axis. Most primitive anuran spermatozoa have no marginal filament, subacrosomal cone and ring structure with the exception of having the subacrosomal cone in Ascaphus and the ring in Discohlossus as compared with those of urodeles. Persistence of the subacrosomal cone and the ring structure is typical in most urodeles and is further linked with the primitive anurans. Therefore, these characters are regarded as symplesiomorphies in urodeles and primitive anurans. The organization of sperm tail, endounclear canal and perforatorium indicates a close phylogenetic relationship between urodeles and the primitives anurans.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.111-121
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• 1995

The ultrastructure of spermatozoa in Hynobius leechii was examined with transmission electron microscope and compared with those of other urodeles and anurans. The perforatorium and the tail show most of the common feature of urodeles. However, there were several ultrastructural characteristics in an acrosome, nucleus, neck, axial rod and mitochondria related to the nucleus. The acrosome was trifoliate in transverse sections and the perforatorium consisted of two different concentric parts with a fine sharp point in a subacrosomal lumen. The nucleus consisted of two different regions of chromatin area and nuclear ridge. The nuclear ridge was composed of several bundles of five to ten minute tubular subunits of 19 nm diameter in this species, while in higher urodeles it was well developed in multi layers. The protoplasmic bead was separated by a cytoplasmic canal except the connection with only the distal portion of the nucleus. The neck was a short cylinder and contained pericentriolar material with transverse striations. In Hynobius the ring was not elongated to the tail and the mitochondria were distributed only in the protoplasmic bead around the nucleus as in Cryptobranchus, while in higher groups of urodeles it elongates to the length of the middle piece and the mitochondria follow the ring. The ring elongation may be related to the distribution of mitochondria. Hynobiidae and Cryptobranchidae are closely related based on structure of neck, the axial rod and location of mitochondria, although they are different in the composition of the axial rod.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.462-468
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• 2012

Urodeles including newt and salamander have remarkable regenerative capacity during the postembryonic life span. Some of the unique features are the formation of the well-developed wound epidermis and the active dedifferentiation process in the early phase of regeneration. These are regarded as key events for the successful regeneration since no further regenerative activity is possible without them. In this study, we investigated the role of retinoic acid (RA) in salamander limb regeneration by blocking RA synthesis using disulfiram, an inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase that oxidizes retinal to RA. Disulfiram treatment resulted in delaying the limb regeneration processes via inhibition of wound epidermis formation and dedifferentiation process. When RA was administered after disulfiram treatment, the inhibitory effect of disulfiram was rescued. In addition, disulfiram treatment after the dedifferentiation stage resulted in the mild retardation of limb regeneration, suggesting that RA might also be involved in the blastema outgrowth. Furthermore, salamander MMP-9 gene expression was also inhibited by disulfiram treatment. Collectively, our findings indicate that endogenous RA may play an important role(s) in the early phase of limb regeneration by regulating the expression of molecules responsible for the modification of intracellular and extracellular environment during salamander limb regeneration.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 1996

Treatment of regenerating amphibian limbs with retinoic acid (RA) is known to induce paftern duplication, which is closely related to the extent of dedifferentiation. In the present study, the activities of trypsin- and chymotrypsin-like proteases are examined to delineate a possible role in the process of dedifferentiation in the regenerating limbs of urodeles, the Korean salamander (Hynobius leechii) and the Mexican axolod (Ambystoma mexicanum). Specifically, we were interested to know if there is any correlation between trypsin- and chymotrypsin-like protease activities and the state of dedifferentiation which is augmented by RA treatment. We were also interested in expoloring if there is any species-specific difference in the profile of enzyme activities during limb regeneration. The results showed that the activities of these two enzymes reached a peak level at dedifferentiation stage, and RA treatment caused elevation of their activities, especially in the case of trypsin-like protease. The increase of trypsin-like protease activity after RA treatment was pronounced in the Korean salamander, which might reflect a species-specific responsiveness to RA. The present results imply that trypsin and chymotrypsin or similar proteases may play an active role in the process of dedifferentiation in regenerating limbs, and that trypsin or trypsin-like eryrymes might be involved in the RA-evoked enhancement of dedifferentiation which precedes overt pattern duplication.