Issues

Cover: Image of an Ambystoma mexicanum limb that has been stained with alizarin red (bone) and alcian blue (cartilage). An ectopic limb (right side) was induced to grow from a wound on the limb proper by deviating a severed nerve and grafting tissue from the opposite limb axis into the wound site. This assay, known as the accessory limb assay, makes it possible to test each of the critical components of limb regeneration: (1) the wound, (2) neurotrophic factors and (3) positional information. Understanding the role of each of these components during limb regeneration in the adult A. mexicanum will bring us closer to harnessing the regenerative capacity in humans. Image by Catherine McCusker from the Gardiner/Bryant research group. See article by McCusker and Gardiner on page 593.