The essential role of connective-tissue cells during axolotl limb regeneration

Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) are known for their remarkable limb-regeneration abilities, which involve the formation of the blastema, a specialized structure consisting of progenitor cells contributed by all major tissues of the limb. Lateral plate mesoderm (LPM)-derived connective tissue (CT) cells dedifferentiate and play a critical role in blastema formation and subsequent limb regeneration. However, the complexity of the blastema’s cellular composition and the extent of CT participation and necessity have not been rigorously explored. To address this gap, we conducted 10x Xenium spatial transcriptomics using a selected array of probes and finding the cellular identity and molecular architecture of blastema during the first stages of limb regeneration To characterize the cellular and molecular architecture of blastema across limb regeneration, we generated a spatial transcriptomics dataset measuring the expression of 100 genes across 6 15 um cryosection from an uninjured limb, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days post-amputation (dpa) using the 10X Genomics Xenium platform.