They regenerated neurons through upregulating a molecule known as lin28, an RNA binding protein with a lot of important roles in cell differentiation etc. In the paper, they detail that they did it through the delivery of the gene for lin28 via an adeno associated virus type 2 (AAV2) viral vector, which is basically a modified virus that, when it infects your target cell, instead of replicating and making more viruses, instead just delivers and starts expressing the gene you want. This is the basis of gene therapy, and the first FDA approved gene therapy in the US is also an AAV2 vectored gene therapy[0]. So, could mean that, if this finding holds true, gene therapy with an already established technology could be a way to regenerate neurons and accelerate healing of spinal damage which is an exciting finding.
They regenerated neurons through upregulating a molecule known as lin28, an RNA binding protein with a lot of important roles in cell differentiation etc. In the paper, they detail that they did it through the delivery of the gene for lin28 via an adeno associated virus type 2 (AAV2) viral vector, which is basically a modified virus that, when it infects your target cell, instead of replicating and making more viruses, instead just delivers and starts expressing the gene you want. This is the basis of gene therapy, and the first FDA approved gene therapy in the US is also an AAV2 vectored gene therapy[0]. So, could mean that, if this finding holds true, gene therapy with an already established technology could be a way to regenerate neurons and accelerate healing of spinal damage which is an exciting finding.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voretigene_neparvovec