Marine Organisms as Model Systems in Biology and Medicine

José E. García-Arrarás, María I. Lázaro-Peña, Carlos A. Díaz-Balzac

Echinoderms possess an incredible regenerative capacity. Within this phylum, holothurians, better known as sea cucumbers, can regenerate most of their internal and external organs. While regeneration has been studied in several species, the most recent and extensive studies have been done in the species Holothuria glaberrima, the focus of most of our discussion. This chapter presents the model system and integrates the work that has been done to determine the major steps that take place, during regeneration of the intestinal and nervous system, from wound healing to the reestablishment of original function. We describe the cellular and molecular events associated with the regeneration processes and also describe the techniques that have been used, discuss the results, and explain the gaps in our knowledge that remain. We expect that the information provided here paves the road for new and young investigators to continue the study of the amazing potential of regeneration in members of the Echinodermata and how these studies will shed some light into the mechanisms that are common to many regenerative processes.