When will this be available for stroke? I don't care that this is for spinal cord injury. Pictures at link.
http://www.kurzweilai.net/carbon-nanotubes-looking-good-for-repairing-damaged-neurons
May offer future hope for patients with spinal-cord injury
July 5, 2017
(credit: Polina Shuvaeva/iStock)
Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) could safely help repair damaged
connections between neurons by serving as supporting scaffolds for
growth or as connections between neurons.
That’s the conclusion of an in-vitro (lab) open-access
study
with cultured neurons (taken from the hippcampus of neonatal rats) by a
multi-disciplinary team of scientists in Italy and Spain, published in
the journal
Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine.
A multi-walled carbon nanotube (credit: Eric Wieser/CC)
The study addressed whether MWCNTs that are interfaced to neurons
affect synaptic transmission by modifying the lipid (fatty) cholesterol
structure in artificial neural membranes.
Significantly, they found that MWCNTs:
- Facilitate the full growth of neurons and the formation of
new synapses. “This growth, however, is not indiscriminate and unlimited
since, as we proved, after a few weeks, a physiological balance is
attained.”
- Do not interfere with the composition of lipids (cholesterol in particular), which make up the cellular membrane in neurons.
- Do not interfere in the transmission of signals through synapses.
The researchers also noted that they recently
reported (in an open access paper) low tissue reaction when multiwall carbon nanotubes were implanted
in vivo (in live animals) to reconnect damaged spinal neurons.
The researchers say they proved that carbon nanotubes “perform
excellently in terms of duration, adaptability and mechanical
compatibility with tissue” and that “now we know that their interaction
with biological material, too, is efficient. Based on this evidence, we
are already studying an
in vivo application, and preliminary results appear to be quite promising in terms of recovery of lost neurological functions.”
The research team comprised scientists from
SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies), the University of Trieste, ELETTRA Sincrotrone, and two Spanish institutions, Basque Foundation for Science and CIC BiomaGUNE.
Abstract of Sculpting neurotransmission during synaptic development by 2D nanostructured interfaces
Carbon nanotube-based biomaterials critically contribute to the
design of many prosthetic devices, with a particular impact in the
development of bioelectronics components for novel neural interfaces.
These nanomaterials combine excellent physical and chemical properties
with peculiar nanostructured topography, thought to be crucial to their
integration with neural tissue as long-term implants. The junction
between carbon nanotubes and neural tissue can be particularly worthy of
scientific attention and has been reported to significantly impact
synapse construction in cultured neuronal networks. In this framework,
the interaction of 2D carbon nanotube platforms with biological
membranes is of paramount importance. Here we study carbon nanotube
ability to interfere with lipid membrane structure and dynamics in
cultured hippocampal neurons. While excluding that carbon nanotubes
alter the homeostasis of neuronal membrane lipids, in particular
cholesterol, we document in aged cultures an unprecedented functional
integration between carbon nanotubes and the physiological maturation of
the synaptic circuits.
No comments:
Post a Comment