Properties of the foot inhibitor from hydra.

A substance was isolated from crude extracts of hydra that inhibits foot regeneration. This substance, the foot inhibitor, has a molecular weight of ≦500 daltons. It is a hydrophilic molecule, slightly basic in character and it has no peptide bonds. The pruified substance acts specifically and at concentrations lower than 10-7 M. At this low concentration only foot and not head regeneration is inhibited. Hydra are sensitive to purified foot inhibitor between the second and eight hour after initiation of foot regeneration by cutting. In normal animals the foot inhibitor is most likely produced by nerve cells. A substance with similar biological and physico-chemical properties is found in other coelenterates.