Abstract:
Historically, communication network factor 2a (Ccn2a), an extracellular matrix (ECM) molecule, was thought to play a role in the progression of fibrotic diseases (Jaffa et al., 2008; Mori et al., 1999; Tamatani et al., 1998). However, work in recent years from our and other groups suggests that Ccn2 induces spinal cord (Mokalled et al., 2016), heart (Mukherjee et al., 2021), and pancreatic beta cell (Riley et al., 2015) regeneration. Our recent study identified Ccn2 as an intervertebral disc pro-regenerative molecule, published as a cover page article in Development (https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.201036). I will present a mixture of published and unpublished data about the role of Ccn2 in the intervertebral disc and heart regeneration in zebrafish.

About the Speaker:
Chinmoy Patra is a Scientist at Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India. Following his doctoral training at the Dept. of Cardiac Development and Remodelling, MPI for Heart and Lung Research, Germany, he obtained post-doctoral training with Dr. Didier Stainier at the Dept. of Developmental Genetics, MPI for Heart and Lung Research, Germany. He started his independent research group in 2014 at Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, India. He is the recipient of the Max-Planck Partner group award, DBT/Wellcome Trust IA Intermediate fellowship, JSPS invitation fellowship, etc. Patra Laboratory focuses on extracellular matrix and adhesion GPCRs in development, regeneration, and diseases using zebrafish as an experimental system.