Eye Repair in Xenopus Laevis

Eye development in vertebrates of complex steps that include specific interactions of the neuroectoderm and overlying head ectoderm. The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis (X. laevis), has a well-characterize eye developmental pathway and is an established model for eye regeneration research. Additionally, Xenopus frogs have high regenerative abilities to regenerate individual eye tissues such as the retina, lens, and cornea. However, it was previously shown that the removal of the specified eye field during the neurulation stage or an eye during the swimming tadpole stage does not permit an eye to regenerate. Here we will describe a model for investigating eye regeneration. We discovered that eye regrowth occurs in tailbud embryos after the surgical removal of the specified optic vesicle tissues. Regrown eyes are found to show similar morphology and reach similar size to a contralateral, internal control eye by 5 days of recovery. Additionally, the regrown eye has expected eye structures, including all cell types of the retina and the lens. Furthermore, we found that eye regrowth requires an early bioelectrical signaling mechanism as seen in appendage regeneration. Overall, our results indicate that Xenopus tailbud embryos can regenerate an eye after tissue lost through a process that requires a known mechanism driving regeneration