Bioelectric stimulation for sonic hedgehog expression

A method of using a bioelectric stimulator to stimulate tissue of a subject, wherein the bioelectric stimulator is programmed to produce a bioelectric signal that upregulates expression of Sonic hedgehog in the tissue, the bioelectric signal comprising:

• a biphasic pulse with a frequency range of 50 Hz to 100 Hz at a current greater than or equal to 100 μA at the tissue, and wherein the subject is in need of wound healing, hair regeneration, and/or treatment of erectile dysfunction, the method comprising:
• connecting the bioelectric stimulator to the target tissue of the subject, and
• actuating the bioelectric stimulator to produce the programmed bioelectric signal so as to upregulate expression of Sonic hedgehog in the tissue.

A method of stimulating the expression of sonic hedgehog (“Shh”) in a cell having a gene encoding Shh, wherein the method comprises:

• applying to the cell a bioelectric signal of 5 Hz, 10 Hz, or 20 Hz at an adequate pulse width duration, wherein the amount of Shh expression enhanced by this bioelectric signal is greater than that seen with a generic bioelectric cell stimulation alone as may be determined by an analysis of the upregulation of mRNA level/GAPDH fold gene expression in the cell in each situation.