Nanoparticle Gel Heals Injured Brain and Bone in Lab Animals

[Brains] and broken bones can both be healed with a new nanoparticle-infused hydrogel...Developed by scientists from Clemson University, the gel creates new blood vessels and later encourages the body's own stem cells to replace dead bone or brain cells.
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, Intro)

Developed by scientists from Clemson University, the gel creates new blood vessels and later encourages the body's own stem cells to replace dead bone or brain cells. Twelve weeks after a devastating brain injury some test rats had recovered almost all of their original muscle and sensory functions.
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.1-2)

"The goal of this project is to encourage the neurological regeneration of damaged tissue," said Ning Zhang, a Clemson University scientist developing the hydrogel. "The functions controlled by the damaged regions will be lost permanently if not restored."
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.3)

Zhang used a controlled cortical impactor, basically a small, pneumatic spear with a conch-shaped tip, to strike the rat's forehead, destroying most of the brain's cortex and some of the striatum. These are areas responsible for memory, learning, sensory information and muscle movements, among other functions. For a human, that amount of brain damage would be roughly equivalent to being in a bad car crash.
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.4-5)

Fluid quickly filled area around the head wound. The Clemson scientists drained the fluid and replaced it with a liquid cocktail of three different neural growth factors, each one encased in a different biodegradable nanoparticle.
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.6)

Over the next three to four weeks the nanoparticles broke apart, releasing their contents. The first growth factors find neural stem cells and prep them for travel. The second growth factor helps the stem cells travel to the injury site. The third and final growth factor turns the stem cells into new neurons and glial cells.
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.9-10)

Twelve weeks after the injury the rats had regained almost all their original sensory and motor functions. Memory and learning also improved significantly when compared with traumatized but untreated rats.
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.11)

Using rabbits instead of mice, Zhang and her colleagues removed three centimeters, or almost half, of a rabbit's femur bone. They then injected hydrogel, modified with drugs to encourage bone growth instead of brain growth, into the wound.
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.13-14)

"Normally the bone would never heal" from that wound that severe," said Zhang. "But in our studies the bone healed in a couple of weeks."
(Bland, E., 2009, September 14, par.15-16)


[I encourage everyone to read this article and respectfully form your own opinions. Science versus nature in relation to saving human lives is an aggressive and controversial topic...]