Researchers of the Nanomedicine Lab at the University of London’s The School of Pharmacy and the Neuroscience Institute at the National Research Centre in Pisa, Italy, have utilized carbon nanotubes to rescue brain cells by silencing genes, resulting in a new treatment for stroke.
Carbon nanotubes have been utilized to supply short strands of RNA, known as siRNA, for causing gene silencing of certain target regions of the brain that perform motor functions, resulting in the deactivation of proteins and contributing to neuronal tissue loss.
Traumatic or ischemic injury of brain activates unwanted protein called Caspase 3, which is responsible for loss of brain tissues. The researchers used siRNA, a molecule that blocks the gene expressions, to deactivate the Caspase 3 protein. The required amount of siRNA is supplied to particular brain areas by injecting carbon nanotubes into the brain directly using high accuracy neurosurgical techniques.
The graphitic carbon-based nanotubes feature a length to diameter ratio as high as 28,000,000:1. Carbon nanotubes deliver SiRNA and silence genes in the brain effectively with operations very similar to a nano-scale syringe. The gene therapy method coupled with advanced nanoscale delivery demonstrated successful functional resurgence in animals that suffered from stroke.
According to researchers, the treatment saved neuronal cells from death and enabled recovery in a motor coordination behavioural test. The scientists also observed that when the same quantity of siRNA without using nanotubes was given, there was no effect on either motor performance or neuronal death, proving that nanotubes were accountable for the rescue of neuronal cells and functional resurgence.
The Chair of Nanomedicine and Head of the Centre for Drug Delivery Research, Kostas Kostarelos commented that the carbon nanotubes provides treatment choices at the pre-clinical level and have the potential to carry biologically-active molecules inside the cells.
Source: http://www.pharmacy.ac.uk