TY - JOUR TI - A functional genomics screen in planarians reveals regulators of whole-brain regeneration AU - Roberts-Galbraith, Rachel H AU - Brubacher, John L AU - Newmark, Phillip A A2 - Sánchez Alvarado, Alejandro VL - 5 PY - 2016 DA - 2016/09/09 SP - e17002 C1 - eLife 2016;5:e17002 DO - 10.7554/eLife.17002 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17002 AB - Planarians regenerate all body parts after injury, including the central nervous system (CNS). We capitalized on this distinctive trait and completed a gene expression-guided functional screen to identify factors that regulate diverse aspects of neural regeneration in Schmidtea mediterranea. Our screen revealed molecules that influence neural cell fates, support the formation of a major connective hub, and promote reestablishment of chemosensory behavior. We also identified genes that encode signaling molecules with roles in head regeneration, including some that are produced in a previously uncharacterized parenchymal population of cells. Finally, we explored genes downregulated during planarian regeneration and characterized, for the first time, glial cells in the planarian CNS that respond to injury by repressing several transcripts. Collectively, our studies revealed diverse molecules and cell types that underlie an animal’s ability to regenerate its brain. KW - Schmidtea mediterranea KW - planarian KW - regeneration KW - stem cells KW - brain KW - CNS JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -