Aging impairs blastema formation and tissue regeneration in Cladonema jellyfish
Older jellyfish medusae exhibit cell loss, heightened DNA damage, and defective wound closure that limit complex tentacle regrowth.
Aging cell · Kanehisa R et al. · Paper published 1 Oct 2026
Researchers investigated how aging affects tissue homeostasis and regeneration in the medusa stage of the cnidarian Cladonema pacificum. They tracked morphological, cellular, and functional changes across the animal's finite lifespan, specifically examining tentacle regrowth after injury. Aging medusae suffered body shrinkage, shortened tentacles, reduced reproductive output, and increased DNA damage. At the cellular level, older jellyfish lost differentiated nematocytes and neurons. They also had fewer stem-associated cells and diminished proliferative activity in the tentacle bulb. Following injury, aged medusae exhibited delayed wound closure, defective blastema formation, and incomplete functional recovery. Together, the findings indicate that aging disrupts blastema-mediated regeneration in this cnidarian.
Why it matters
The study demonstrates that age-related declines in blastema-mediated regeneration occur in early-branching metazoans, pointing to shared evolutionary constraints on animal regenerative capacity.
Caveats
The findings reflect observations in a cnidarian model and may not directly represent regenerative dynamics in more complex mammals.
Written from the paper’s abstract, and every claim checked against it before publishing. Read the paper for the full methods and data.
The paper
Aging Disrupts Tissue Homeostasis and Constrains Blastema-Mediated Regeneration in the Cladonema Medusa
Kanehisa R, Nakatani H, Takatori S et al.
Aging cell · 1 Oct 2026 · Peer-reviewed
- Relevance
- Core geroscience
- News value
- Notable
- Evidence
- Model organisms
- Status
- Peer-reviewed
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