Immunodetection of telomerase-like immunoreactivity in normal and regenerating tail of amphibians suggests it is related to their regenerative capacity.

The high regenerative power of amphibians suggests that numerous signaling pathways remain active in larvae and adult tissues, including those stimulated by telomerases. The protein component of Telomerase (TERT) shows high amino acid homology in numerous vertebrates and we have utilized an antibody made for a lizard telomerase to detect a putative telomerase in amphibians tissues based on 60-75% epitope identity. Western blotting studies indicate that telomerase is constitutionally present in normal and regenerating tails of tadpoles of the anuran Rana dalmatina. In the neotenic urodele Ambystoma mexicanum the enzyme is detectable in the normal tail and increases during tail regeneration. Immunofluorescence shows that telomerase is localized in both epidermal and mesenchymal cells of normal and regenerating tail of A. mexicanum, especially in their nuclei. The ultrastructural localization with gold or gold-silver intensified confirms that telomerase is mainly present in the nucleus, in particular in discrete regions of the nucleoplasm identified as Cajal bodies and in the nucleolus, sites known in mammalian cells to be involved in the processing of the enzyme. Telomerases are present in normal and even more in regenerating tissues, and are possibly implicated in the numerous cell replications needed for physiological or post-amputation tissue regeneration in amphibians. J. Exp. Zool. 323A: 757-766, 2015.