Influence of X-Rays on Limb Regeneration in Urodele Amphibians

INTRODUCTION A FTER Roentgen's discovery of x-rays, many papers were published dealing with their influence on the process of regeneration in different animals. Regeneration is a process of restoration of a missing organ or part. X-rays have proved to be a powerful and convenient method for experimental studies on regeneration as well as on other biological processes. It is possible that the general biological effect of x-rays on the living organism is based on the effect of x-rays on the mechanism of cell multiplication. Therefore, the investigation of the influence of x-rays on regeneration, in which a very intensive mitotic activity is observed, is particularly interesting. Such studies can give the investigator insight into the nature of the effect of x-rays, as well as knowledge of the nature of the regenerative process, and may enable him to solve certain problems, such as the source of cells for the regenerative blastema. A knowledge of the nature of the effects of x-rays on the living organism is clearly important not only for experimental biology, but also for medicine. The therapeutic use of x-rays for different neoplastic growths needs a firm theoretical basis instead of a purely empirical one. X-ray biology must provide this theoretical foundation of x-ray therapy. The most convenient vertebrates for studies on the effects of x-rays on regeneration are the amphibians, inasmuch as these animals possess the greatest ability among vertebrates to regenerate lost organs. Many papers have appeared in this field since the publication of the excellent review by Curtis (1936). The purpose of the present review is to survey the basic problems in this field, as enumerated below: I. The mode of action of x-rays in inhibiting regeneration. II. The source of cells for the regenerating blastema. III. The influence of x-rays on growth and differentiation in the regenerative process. In this review some new papers, particularly those in Russian, which have seldom been referred to in the English literature of the subject, will be considered in relatively greater detail than better known publications.

[1]  H. Ralston.  The Immediate and Delayed Action of X-Rays Upon the Protozoan Dunaliella Salina , 1939 .

[2]  R. Schrek.  Radiosensitivity of Lymphocytes and Granulocytes In Vitro According to the Method of Unstained Cell Counts.* , 1945 .

[3]  M. Debakey,et al.  The blood bank and the technique and therapeutics of transfusions , 1942 .

[4]  E. G. Butler.  The effects of X‐radiation on the regeneration of the fore limb of Amblystoma larvae , 1933 .

[5]  W. Grasnick.  Die Wirkung der Radiumstrahlen auf tierische Gewebe , 1917 .

[6]  A. Maximow.  STUDIES ON THE CHANGES PRODUCED BY ROENTGEN RAYS IN INFLAMED CONNECTIVE TISSUE , 1923, The Journal of experimental medicine.

[7]  E. G. Butler,et al.  Morphological effects of denervation and amputation of limbs in urodele larvae , 1941 .

[8]  M. Creighton.  The effects of x‐rays on mitotic and meiotic chromosomes and cell division in Chorthippus longicornis (orthoptera) , 1941 .

[9]  J. Carlson.  Immediate effects of 31 r of x‐rays on the different stages of mitosis in neuroblasts of Chortophaga , 1942 .

[10]  J. S. Mitchell.  Metabolic Effects of Therapeutic Doses of X and Gamma Radiations , 1943 .

[11]  M. Harland,et al.  Effects of denervation and amputation of hind limbs in anuran tadpoles , 1943 .

[12]  E. Carothers.  A cytological study of x‐rayed grasshopper embryos , 1940 .

[13]  W. O. Puckett.  X-radiation and thyroid-induced metamorphosis in Anuran larvae , 1937 .

[14]  H. Kersten,et al.  The Action of Soft X-Rays on Cladocera (Daphnia magna) , 1935, Physiological Zoology.

[15]  J. A. Crowther.  Some considerations relative to the action of X-rays on tissue cells , 1924 .

[16]  Pauline H. Dederer.  The production of giant spermatocytes in philosamia cynthia by means of x‐rays , 1940 .

[17]  H. Kersten,et al.  Susceptibility to soft x‐rays of Daphnia magna during its development from egg to young in the brood pouch , 1936 .

[18]  T. S. Strangeways,et al.  A Study of the Direct and Indirect Action of X-Rays upon the Tissues of the Embryonic Fowl , 1927 .

[19]  R. Stowell.  The Effects of Roentgen Radiation on the Thymonucleic Acid Content of Transplantable Mammary Carcinomas , 1945 .

[20]  G. M. Smith,et al.  MELANOPHORES INDUCED BY X-RAY COMPARED WITH THOSE EXISTING IN PATTERNS AS SEEN IN CARASSIUS AURATUS , 1932 .

[21]  L. Chesley.  THE EFFECT OF RADIATION UPON CELL RESPIRATION , 1934 .

[22]  P. Hertwig.  Durch Radiumbestrahlung hervorgerufene Veränderungen in den Kernteilungsfiguren der Eier von Ascaris megalocephala , 1911 .

[23]  R. H. Millwee.  The Influence of the Antiquity of the Cell Upon Cell Resistance to Radium and X-Rays1 , 1934 .

[24]  P. S. Henshaw,et al.  Changes in Susceptibility of Drosophila Eggs to X-rays , 1933 .

[25]  S. Rose.  Methods of initiating limb regeneration in adult Anura , 1944 .

[26]  W. Moore.  THE EFFECTS OF X-RAYS ON FERTILITY IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER TREATED AT DIFFERENT STAGES IN DEVELOPMENT , 1932 .

[27]  W. O. Puckett.  The effects of x‐radiation on limb development and regeneration in Amblystoma , 1936 .

[28]  A. Richards.  The Effect of X-Rays on the Rate of Cell Division in the Early Cleavage of Planorbis , 1914 .

[29]  B. Campbell,et al.  Early Changes Induced in Purkinje Cells of Rabbit by Single Massive Doses of Roentgen Rays.∗ , 1946, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

[30]  C. Packard.  Roentgen Radiations in Biological Research , 1945 .

[31]  P. S. Henshaw.  The Action of X-Rays on Nucleated and Non-Nucleated Egg Fragments , 1938 .

[32]  R. G. Canti,et al.  The effect of gamma irradiation on cell division in tissue culture in vitro , 1927 .

[33]  A. R. Whiting.  Sensitivity To x-rays of different meiotic stages in unlaid eggs of Habrobracon , 1940 .

[34]  H. W. Jacox.  The action of radiation on living cells. , 1949, Radiology.

[35]  E. G. Butler,et al.  Histological alterations in denervated non-regenerating limbs of urodele larvae , 1941 .

[36]  C. M. Scott.  Action of X-Rays on the Eggs of Calliphora , 1934 .

[37]  W. T. Levine.  Pigmentary Reaction in Rana Clamitans Larvae Following Treatments With X-Rays.∗ , 1931 .

[38]  T. Evans.  Respiration and Visible Development of Individual Grasshopper EGGS following X-Irradiation , 1934, Physiological Zoology.

[39]  Raymond Stone.  The effects of x‐rays on regeneration in Tubifex Tubifex , 1932 .

[40]  Pressley L. Crummy.  The Inhibition of Regeneration by X-Rays, in the Urodele, Triturus viridescens , 1935, American Naturalist.

[41]  S. Rose,et al.  The role of larval skin in promoting limb regeneration in adult Anura , 1944 .

[42]  E. Bataillon.  Recherches anatomiques et expérimentales sur la métamorphose des amphibiens anoures , 1891 .

[43]  J. Combs,et al.  The Effects of a Constant Dosage of X-Rays during the Pre-, Post-, and Mid-Proliferative Periods in Drosophila Melanogaster. , 1937, Genetics.

[44]  C. Davison,et al.  Radiation Effects on Nervous System and Roentgen-Pigmentation of Goldfish (Carassius auratus) , 1942 .

[45]  J. Mavor.  A comparison of the susceptibility to X‐rays of drosophila melanogaster at various stages of its life‐cycle , 1927 .

[46]  F. G. Spear.  The effect of spaced radiation on tissue cultures in vitro , 1932 .

[47]  O. Mohr.  Mikroskopische Untersuchungen zu Experimenten über den Einfluss der Radiumstrahlen und der Kältewirkung auf die Chromatinreifung und das Heterochromosom bei Decticus verruccivorus (♂) , 1918 .

[48]  A. Hollaender,et al.  Effects of X-Radiation on Thymus Nucleic Acid. , 1947, Science.

[49]  A. C. Giese.  Radiations and Cell Division , 1947, The Quarterly Review of Biology.