Nanotechnology for Treatment of Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

The use of nanotechnology in cell therapy and tissue engineering offers promising future perspectives for brain and spinal cord injury treatment. Stem cells have been shown to selectively target injured brain and spinal cord tissue and improve functional recovery. To allow cell detection, superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles can be used to label transplanted cells. MRI is then a suitable method for the in vivo tracking of grafted cells in the host organism. CNS, and particularly spinal cord, injury is accompanied by tissue damage and the formation of physical and biochemical barriers that prevent axons from regenerating. One aspect of nanomedicine is the development of biologically compatible nanofiber scaffolds that mimic the structure of the extracellular matrix and can serve as a permissive bridge for axonal regeneration or as a drug-delivery system. The incorporation of biologically active epitopes and/or the utilization of these scaffolds as stem cell carriers may further enhance their therapeutic efficacy.

Keywords::

• cell therapy
• contrast agents
• magnetic resonance
• nanofibers
• scaffold
• spinal cord lesion

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported through grants: AVOZ 503 90 703, 1M0538, LC 554, IGA MZ 1A8697–5, GAAV IAA 500 390 902, the EC FP6 project ENINET (LSHM-CT-2005-019063), GAČR 203/09/1242 KAN201110651 and KAN200520804. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Acknowledgements

We thank J Dutt for critical reading of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported through grants: AVOZ 503 90 703, 1M0538, LC 554, IGA MZ 1A8697–5, GAAV IAA 500 390 902, the EC FP6 project ENINET (LSHM-CT-2005-019063), GAČR 203/09/1242 KAN201110651 and KAN200520804. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.