A step towards repairing the central nervous system
January 31, 2013
Neuronal cell cultures through a confocal microscope. The cytoskeleton is stained red, the nuclei blue, and proliferative nuclei green. (Credit: University of Barcelona)
Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the University of Barcelona in Spain have discovered a biomaterial that can generate new differentiated neural stem cells, as part of a project to develop an implant that allows brain repair and regeneration.
The team tested different types of polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable material allowing neural cell adhesion and growth. They found that PLA with a proportion of isomers of 70/30 maintained the important pools of neuronal and glial progenitor cells in vitro.
PLA 70/30 was more amorphous, degraded faster, and, crucially, released significant amounts of L-lactate, which is essential for the maintenance and differentiation of neural progenitor cells.
“The mechanical and surface properties of PLA70/30, which we used here in the form of microthin films, make it a good substrate for neural cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation,” says Zaida Álvarez of the IBEC Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies group.
Enabling the CNS to regenerate could open doors to promising new strategies to tackle accidental damage as well as numerous diseases like stroke and degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
Comments (4)
by Laura Crouch
1-31-2013 “A step towards repairing the central nervous system”
Congratulations, to the legions of scientists and their assistants who toil in sterile, cold, demanding, repetitive jobs to make this kind of life-giving “BREAKTHROUGH” possible!
I just wanted to recognize and show appreciation for their dedication and gift to humanity by developing: “PLA 70/30, in the form of micro thin films, a good substrate for neural cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation”.
I am sure that all of our returning “Wounded Warriors” will be forever grateful for the benefits that “Enabling the CNS to regenerate…opening doors to promising new strategies to tackle the damage…” inflicted upon them by the 2 wars perpetuated by the old, white men, leftover from the cold war era‘s “military-industrial complex”.
NOW, if they will just hurry up, I will be able to simply replace my brain before I get too old, and it starts going wonky.
d, and it starts going wonky.
by The Man
Might this also be a step in the direction of treating, or curing, Lupus?
by WLGJR
While reading about this article, I am thinking about extending my intelligence into my dorsal root ganglia, inside my spinal cord. But of course they have to be integrated to my conscious mind (via biofeedback practices), otherwise they will act as distraction (if they fire uncontrolledly) rather than augmentation.
To Gorden Russell: This article is about CNS, not PNS (Peripheral Nervous System). But being both nervous systems they should be able to complement each other (with some modification), I guess.
by Gorden Russell
There was a news item the other day about a young soldier who just had two new arms transplanted. It said that it would take a long time for his nerves to grow down into his new arms. This could be a great help to him.