scholarly journals pH-responsive delivery of H2 through ammonia borane-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles improves recovery after spinal cord injury by moderating oxidative stress and regulating microglial polarization

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.

Author(s):  
Xinhao Zhao ◽  
Huiru Wang ◽  
Yunlong Zou ◽  
Weiwei Xue ◽  
Yang Zhuang ◽  
...  

Abstract Severe microenvironmental changes after spinal cord injury (SCI) present serious challenges in neural regeneration and tissue repair. Gelatin (GL)- and hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogels are attractive scaffolds because they are major components of the extracellular matrix and can provide a favorable adjustable microenvironment for neurogenesis and motor function recovery. In this study, three-dimensional hybrid GL/HA hydrogel scaffolds were prepared and optimized. The hybrid hydrogels could undergo in-situ gelation and fit the defects perfectly via visible light- induced crosslinking in the complete SCI rats. We found that the transplantation of the hybrid hydrogel scaffold significantly reduced the inflammatory responses and suppressed glial scar formation in an HA concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, the hybrid hydrogel with GL/HA ratios less than 8/2 effectively promoted endogenous neural stem cell migration and neurogenesis, as well as improved neuron maturation and axonal regeneration. The results showed locomotor function improved 60 days after transplantation, thus suggesting that GL/HA hydrogels can be considered as a promising scaffold for complete SCI repair.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diti Desai ◽  
Malin Åkerfelt ◽  
Neeraj Prabhakar ◽  
Mervi Toriseva ◽  
Tuomas Näreoja ◽  
...  

Intracellular drug delivery by mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) carrying hydrophilic and hydrophobic fluorophores as model drug cargo is demonstrated on 2D cellular and 3D tumor organoid level. Two different MSN designs, chosen on the basis of the characteristics of the loaded cargo, were used: MSNs with a surface-grown poly(ethylene imine), PEI, coating only for hydrophobic cargo and MSNs with lipid bilayers covalently coupled to the PEI layer as a diffusion barrier for hydrophilic cargo. First, the effect of hydrophobicity corresponding to loading degree (hydrophobic cargo) as well as surface charge (hydrophilic cargo) on intracellular drug release was studied on the cellular level. All incorporated agents were able to release to varying degrees from the endosomes into the cytoplasm in a loading degree (hydrophobic) or surface charge (hydrophilic) dependent manner as detected by live cell imaging. When administered to organotypic 3D tumor models, the hydrophilic versus hydrophobic cargo-carrying MSNs showed remarkable differences in labeling efficiency, which in this case also corresponds to drug delivery efficacy in 3D. The obtained results could thus indicate design aspects to be taken into account for the development of efficacious intracellular drug delivery systems, especially in the translation from standard 2D culture to more biologically relevant organotypic 3D cultures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuankang Wang ◽  
Zhihao Zhang ◽  
Zhijie Zhu ◽  
Zhuowen Liang ◽  
Xiaoshuang Zuo ◽  
...  

After spinal cord injury (SCI), reactive astrocytes can be classified into two distinctive phenotypes according to their different functions: neurotoxic (A1) astrocytes and neuroprotective (A2) astrocytes. Our previous studies proved that photobiomodulation (PBM) can promote motor function recovery and improve tissue repair after SCI, but little is known about the underlying mechanism. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether PBM contributes to repair after SCI by regulating the activation of astrocytes. Male rats subjected to clip-compression SCI were treated with PBM for two consecutive weeks, and the results showed that recovery of motor function was improved, the lesion cavity size was reduced, and the number of neurons retained was increased. We determined the time course of A1/A2 astrocyte activation after SCI by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and verified that PBM inhibited A1 astrocyte activation and promoted A2 astrocyte activation at 7 days postinjury (dpi) and 14 dpi. Subsequently, potential signaling pathways related to A1/A2 astrocyte activation were identified by GO function analysis and KEGG pathway analysis and then studied in animal experiments and preliminarily analyzed in cultured astrocytes. Next, we observed that the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) was upregulated by PBM and that both factors contributed to the transformation of A1/A2 astrocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, we found that PBM reduced the neurotoxicity of A1 astrocytes to dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. In conclusion, PBM can promote better recovery after SCI, which may be related to the transformation of A1/A2 reactive astrocytes.


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