Two Duke Department of Orthopaedic Surgery researchers were part of a team that published, Spinal Cord Repair is Modulated by the Neurogenic Factor Hb-egf Under Direction of a Regeneration-Associated Enhancer in Nature Communications. The findings may lead to novel targets to enhance spinal cord regeneration and recovery after spinal cord injury.
The work was conducted in the laboratory of Kenneth Poss, Ph.D., James B. Duke Professor of Regenerative Biology, and director of the Duke Regeneration Center.
The team identified a regeneration-associated enhancer element that mediates spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish and neonatal mice but is repressed in adult mammals (mice) incapable of regeneration.
Shyni Varghese, PhD, is the Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and holds appointments in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Timothy D. Faw, PT, DPT, PhD, is a medical instructor in Orthopaedic Surgery and teaches in the Duke Doctor of Physical Therapy program.