Stemness activity underlying whole brain regeneration in a basal chordate

Central nervous system (CNS) regeneration extent is highly diverse across the metazoans, with adult mammals demonstrating limited ability1,2. Understanding how neurons regenerate following injury remains a central challenge in regenerative medicine. Although conserved pathways associated with neural regeneration have been identified3,4, a study describing the stepwise morphogenetic changes that take place throughout a complete CNS regeneration is lacking. Utilizing the highly regenerative tunicate model Polycarpa mytiligera5, we characterized the morphological, cell proliferation, and transcriptomic dynamics that lead to entire CNS regeneration. The regenerated CNS of adult P. mytiligera expressed key neurodevelopmental markers that are not otherwise present in the adult CNS. Removal of the entire CNS resulted in high cell proliferation in the regenerated area. Transcriptome analysis revealed enhanced stem-cell related gene activity, with high expression of P53 and piRNA pathways preceding the activation of Notch, Wnt, and Nanos pathways. The CNS regeneration atlas created here depicts the transcriptomic landscape of the entire CNS regeneration process, revealing the core pathways that regulate neuronal response to injury, and the regeneration stage at which they are most pronounced. The molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling regenerative capacity that this atlas reveals could be used to develop approaches to enhancing neurogenesis in closely-related chordate species, including humans.