Olfactory
ensheathing cell (OEC) development and function is being
probed in our lab by Edmund Au, Miranda Richter, Ed
Cheung, Cath Cowan and Nicole Janzen. OECs retain the
primarily embryonic role of being permissive to axon
growth in an adult environment, and have recently been
shown to be also effective in promoting spinal cord
lesion repair. Despite this, little is known about their
development, their role in guiding olfactory axons and
how our understanding of these mechanisms may guide
their use elsewhere in repair strategies, such as the
lesioned spinal cord.
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