The regenerating vertebrate limb is an excellent model for exploring a number of significant questions in developmental biology. Written by leading investigators in the field, this collection provides a comprehensive discussion of the roles played by the major regulators affecting limb regeneration and repair following trauma. Using the amphibian limb as the recognized model system, the contributors explore in detail the contributions made by biopotentials, theskin, the endocrine system, and nerves in regulating such events as dedifferentiation, the proliferation of blastema cells , and pattern formation. The modulating roles of blood cells and the immunesystem are re-examined, and the exciting studies on the isolation and characterization of neurotropic factors reviewed. The sometimes provocative but always informative and up-to-date discussions provided in this volume will be of particular interest to developmental biologists, anatomists, neuroscientists, and cell biologists.
