Dataset for: Serotonin is essential for eye regeneration in planaria Schmidtea mediterranea

Planaria is an ideal system to study factors involved in regeneration and tissue homeostasis. Little is known about the role of metabolites and small molecules, in stem cell maintenance and lineage specification in planarians. Using LC-MS-based quantitative metabolomics, we determined the relative levels of metabolites in stem cells, progenitors, and differentiated cells of planarian S.mediterranea. Tryptophan and its metabolic product serotonin are significantly enriched in stem cells and progenitor population. Serotonin biosynthesis in these cells is brought about by a non-canonical enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH). Knockdown of Smed-pah leads to complete disappearance of eyes in regenerating planaria while exogenous supply of serotonin and its precursor rescued the eyeless phenotype. Our results demonstrate a key role for serotonin in eye regeneration.

涡虫（Planaria）是研究再生与组织稳态相关调控因子的理想实验体系。目前学界对代谢物与小分子在涡虫干细胞维持及谱系特化中的作用所知甚少。本研究采用基于液相色谱-质谱联用（LC-MS）的定量代谢组学方法，测定了地中海施密特涡虫（S.mediterranea）的干细胞、祖细胞与分化细胞内的代谢物相对水平。结果显示，色氨酸及其代谢产物5-羟色胺（serotonin）在干细胞与祖细胞群体中显著富集。这类细胞内的5-羟色胺生物合成由一种非经典酶——苯丙氨酸羟化酶（PAH）介导。敲低Smed-pah基因会导致再生涡虫的眼部完全缺失，而外源补充5-羟色胺及其前体则可挽救该无眼表型。本研究结果证实了5-羟色胺在眼部再生过程中的关键作用。