A flexible repertoire of wound closure strategies precedes whole-body regeneration
Animals capable of whole-body regeneration can heal virtually any wound. Here they show that Hofstenia miamia accomplishes this feat through variable morphogenetic strategies that depend on which epithelial layers are da
Wound closure is an essential aspect of regeneration, often serving as the first morphogenetic step preceding downstream events. In animals capable of whole-body regeneration, such as Hofstenia miamia, wound healing is a complex process that can vary depending on the type and location of the injury. This paper investigates the wound closure strategies employed by H. miamia, revealing two distinct modes of closure that depend on which epithelial layers are injured. The outer epidermis plays a crucial role in wound closure, with wounds that injure this layer closing by constriction. In contrast, damage to both the outer epidermis and pharyngeal epithelium induces long, actin-rich protrusions that form transient bridges across the wound prior to re-epithelialization. The role of muscle contraction in wound closure is also differentially required across conditions, with pharmacological inhibition of actomyosin contractility sufficient to shift closure dynamics across epithelia. This study highlights a wide toolkit of repair strategies employed by H. miamia, which appears independent of subsequent regenerative processes.