Discovery of anti-inflammatory physiological peptides that promote tissue repair by reinforcing epithelial barrier formation.

Epithelial barriers that prevent dehydration and pathogen invasion are established by tight junctions (TJs), and their disruption leads to various inflammatory diseases and tissue destruction. However, a therapeutic strategy to overcome TJ disruption in diseases has not been established because of the lack of clinically applicable TJ-inducing molecules. Here, we found TJ-inducing peptides (JIPs) in mice and humans that corresponded to 35 to 42 residue peptides of the C terminus of alpha 1-antitrypsin (A1AT), an acute-phase anti-inflammatory protein.

Spatio-temporal neural stem cell behavior leads to both perfect and imperfect structural brain regeneration in adult newts.

Adult newts can regenerate large parts of their brain from adult neural stem cells (NSCs), but how adult NSCs reorganize brain structures during regeneration remains unclear. In development, elaborate brain structures are produced under broadly coordinated regulations of embryonic NSCs in the neural tube, whereas brain regeneration entails exquisite control of the re-establishment of certain brain parts, suggesting that a yet-unknown mechanism directs NSCs upon partial brain excision. Here we report that upon excision of a quarter of the adult newt () mesencephalon, active participation of local NSCs around specific brain subregions' boundaries leads to some imperfect and some perfect brain regeneration along an individual's rostrocaudal axis.

Lens regenerates by means of similar processes and timeline in adults and larvae of the newt Cynops pyrrhogaster.

Background: It is widely accepted that juvenile animals can regenerate faster than adults. For example, in the case of lens regeneration of the newt Cynops pyrrhogaster, larvae and adults require approximately 30 and 80 days for completion of lens regeneration, respectively. However, when we carefully observed lens regeneration in C.