Alice Huang, PhD, receives Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award for tendon research
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The Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award, for researchers younger than age 40 years who have presented outstanding research in musculoskeletal disease or injury, has been given to Alice Huang, PhD for her study on tendon development and healing.
Huang, an associate professor at the Department of Orthopaedics, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, used genetic tools, mouse models and bioengineering to explore tendon biology and the most effective corresponding regenerative therapy strategies, according the press release.
A weak understanding of tendon biology has led to poor repair outcomes for many patients.
“Tendons are connective tissues that bind muscle to bone and serve to move the bone. Tendons are prone to injury when overstrained and are slow to heal,” according to the release. “Even following surgery, tendons do not return to normal mechanical properties as the tissue heals via scar formation. This can lead to high rates of failure and re-rupture, presenting a clinical challenge as well as continued pain for the patient.”
In her research, Huang found that tendon development is the product of both muscle to bone anchoring followed by tendon elongation, yet the presence of cartilage and muscle is largely dependent on the locale of the body.
“For many of these tendons, a part in the hand is regulated separately from a part in the arm, even though these end up being long continuous segments,” Huang said during the presentation of her findings at the Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting. “So in the absence of cartilage, the hand segments actually are missing, and in the absence of muscle, the arm segments are missing.”
Huang determined that tendon cells in adults are not activating after injury, allowing for the generation of cartilage as opposed to collagen fibers. She then began testing a hydrogel treatment of decorin, a component of a tendon’s extracellular matrix, in mice.
According to the release, “The results suggest that using decorin at the time of injury may result in early reduction of scarring and improved movement, helping to heal the tendon.” – by Max R. Wursta
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Disclosure: Huang reports she received funding for this research from the National Institutes of Health, the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation, New York State Stem Cell Science (NYSTEM), University of Bern (Switzerland) and the Department of Orthopaedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.