Special Nanotubes May Be Used As A Vehicle For Treating Neurodegenerative Disord

[Guest guest]

Special Nanotubes May Be Used As A Vehicle For Treating

Neurodegenerative Disorders

http://medicalnewscenter.com/out/out.cgi?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090114212227.htm

Electrical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have

demonstrated that magnetic nanotubes combined with nerve growth

factor can enable specific cells to differentiate into neurons. The

results from in vitro studies show that magnetic nanotubes may be

exploited to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's

disease and Alzheimer's disease because they can be used as a

delivery vehicle for nerve growth factor.

" Due to their structure and properties, magnetic nanotubes are among

the most promising candidates of multifunctional nanomaterials for

clinical diagnostic and therapeutic applications, " said Jining Xie,

research assistant professor and lead author of the study. " We're

excited about these results specifically and the overall promise of

functionalized nanotubes to treat patients with these debilitating

conditions. "

Xie, Linfeng Chen, senior research associate in the Center for

Wireless Nano-, Bio- and Info-Tech Sensors and Systems, and

researchers from Arkansas State University worked with rat

pheochromocytoma, otherwise known as PC12 cells. PC12 cells were

chosen because they require nerve growth factor – a small, secreted

protein that helps nerve cells survive – to differentiate into

neurons.

The researchers knew that any sign of nerve growth would indicate

interactions between the PC12 cells and the nanotubes. They observed

neurite growth, specifically filopodia – slender projections that

extend from the leading edge of migrating cells – extruding from

neurite growth cones toward the nanotubes incorporated with nerve

growth factor.

" Microscopic observations showed filopodia extending from the growth

cones were in close proximity to the nanotubes, at time appearing to

reach out toward or into them, " Xie said.

The results did not show any abnormal toxicity from the nanotubes.

The human nervous system depends upon a complex network of neurons,

or nerve cells, tied to each other by synapses. The synaptic

connections occur through neurites, which are immature or developing

neurons. When these connections fail, the nervous system does not

function properly, eventually leading to injury or disease. As Xie

mentioned, the researchers hope that functionalized nanotubes can

help restore or repair damaged nerve cells.

Xie collaborates with Vijay Varadan, distinguished professor of

electrical engineering and director of the Center for Wireless Nano-,

Bio- and Info-Tech Sensors and Systems, which is supported by the

National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate

Competitive Research. Another collaborator was Malathi Srivatsan,

associate professor of biology at Arkansas State University in

boro, Ark.

Varadan holds the College of Engineering's Twenty-First Century

Endowed Chair in Nano- and Bio-Technologies and Medicine and the

college's Chair in Microelectronics and High Density Electronics. In

addition to his position as director of the above center, he directs

the university's High Density Electronics Center. Varadan is also a

professor of neurosurgery in the College of Medicine at the

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Ark.

The researchers' findings were published in Nanotechnology, an

Institute of Physics Publishing journal.