Mesoporous silica nanoparticles for treating spinal cord injury

Author(s):  
Désirée White-Schenk ◽  
Riyi Shi ◽  
James F. Leary
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Yeying Wang ◽  
Bing Xiao ◽  
Guoke Tang ◽  
Jiangming Yu ◽  
...  

Abstract Imbalance of oxidative and inflammatory regulation is the main contributor to neurofunctional deterioration and failure of rebuilding spared neural networks after spinal cord injury (SCI). As an emerging biosafe strategy for protecting against oxidative and inflammatory damage, hydrogen (H2) therapy is a promising approach for improving the microenvironment to allow neural regeneration. However, achieving release of H2 at sufficient concentrations specifically into the injured area is critical for the therapeutic effect of H2. Thus, we assembled SiO2@mSiO2 mesoporous silica nanoparticles and loaded them with ammonia borane (AB), which has abundant capacity and allows controllable release of H2 in an acid-dependent manner. The release of H2 from AB/SiO2@mSiO2 was satisfactory at pH 6.6, which is approximately equal to the microenvironmental acidity after SCI. After AB/SiO2@mSiO2 were intrathecally administered to rat models of SCI, continuous release of H2 from these nanoparticles synergistically enhanced neurofunctional recovery, reduced fibrotic scar formation and promoted neural regeneration by suppressing oxidative stress reaction. Furthermore, in the subacute phase of SCI, microglia were markedly polarized toward the M2 phenotype by H2 via inhibition of TLR9 expression in astrocytes. In conclusion, H2 delivery through AB/SiO2@mSiO2 has the potential to efficiently treat SCI through comprehensive modulation of the oxidative and inflammatory imbalance in the microenvironment.


2022 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 100177
Author(s):  
Xue Jiang ◽  
Xiaoyao Liu ◽  
Qi Yu ◽  
Wenwen Shen ◽  
Xifan Mei ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guodong Sun ◽  
Shenghui Zeng ◽  
Xu Liu ◽  
Haishan Shi ◽  
Renwen Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Acute inflammation is a central component in the progression of spinal cord injury (SCI). Anti-inflammatory drugs used in the clinic are often administered systemically at high doses, which can paradoxically increase inflammation and result in drug toxicity. A cluster-like mesoporous silica/arctigenin/CAQK composite (MSN-FC@ARC-G) drug delivery system was designed to avoid systemic side effects of high-dose therapy by enabling site-specific drug delivery to the spinal cord. In this nanosystem, mesoporous silica was modified with the FITC fluorescent molecule and CAQK peptides that target brain injury and SCI sites. The size of the nanocarrier was kept at approximately 100 nm to enable penetration of the blood–brain barrier. Arctigenin, a Chinese herbal medicine, was loaded into the nanosystem to reduce inflammation. The in vivo results showed that MSN-FC@ARC-G could attenuate inflammation at the injury site. Behavior and morphology experiments suggested that MSN-FC@ARC-G could diminish local microenvironment damage, especially reducing the expression of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and IL-17-related inflammatory factors, inhibiting the activation of astrocytes, thus protecting neurons and accelerating the recovery of SCI. Our study demonstrated that this novel, silica-based drug delivery system has promising potential for clinical application in SCI therapy.


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