Hydrogel for Cell Housing in the Brain and in the Spinal Cord

Perale, Giuseppe; Giordano, Carmen; Bianco, Fabio; Rossi, Filippo; Tunesi, Marta; Daniele, F.; Crivelli, Filippo; Matteoli, Michela; Masi, Maurizio

doi:10.5301/ijao.2011.6488

Cited by 20 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Biomaterials have been extensively used to promote spinal cord repair [37–39]. However, little progress has been achieved to implement these approaches into the brain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-invasive imaging of transplanted human neural stem cells and ECM scaffold remodeling in the stroke-damaged rat brain by 19F- and diffusion-MRI

et al. 2012

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Transplantation of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) is emerging as a viable treatment for stroke related brain injury. However, intraparenchymal grafts do not regenerate lost tissue, but rather integrate into the host parenchyma without significantly affecting the lesion cavity. Providing a structural support for the delivered cells appears important for cell based therapeutic approaches. The non-invasive monitoring of therapeutic methods would provide valuable information regarding therapeutic strategies but remains a challenge. Labeling transplanted cells with metal-based 1H-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents affects the visualization of the lesion cavity. Herein, we demonstrate that a 19F-MRI contrast agent can adequately monitor the distribution of transplanted cells, whilst allowing an evaluation of the lesion cavity and the formation of new tissue on 1H-MRI scans. Twenty percent of cells labeled with the 19F-agent were of host origin, potentially reflecting the re-uptake of label from dead transplanted cells. Both T2- and diffusion-weighted MRI scans indicated that transplantation of hNSCs suspended in a gel form of a xenogeneic extracellular matrix (ECM) bioscaffold resulted in uniformly distributed cells throughout the lesion cavity. However, diffusion MRI indicated that the injected materials did not yet establish diffusion barriers (i.e. cellular network, fiber tracts) normally found within striatal tissue. The ECM bioscaffold therefore provides an important support to hNSCs for the creation of de novo tissue and multi-nuclei MRI represents an adept method for the visualization of some aspects of this process. However, significant developments of both the transplantation paradigm, as well as regenerative imaging, are required to successfully create new tissue in the lesion cavity and to monitor this process non-invasively.

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“…Biomaterials have been extensively used to promote spinal cord repair [37–39]. However, little progress has been achieved to implement these approaches into the brain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-invasive imaging of transplanted human neural stem cells and ECM scaffold remodeling in the stroke-damaged rat brain by 19F- and diffusion-MRI

et al. 2012

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“…Agarose (0.5% w/v) was subsequently added and the system was electromagnetically heated up to 80 °C to induce condensation reactions to begin. The mixture was subsequently merged with a water-based solution (at a 50/50 volumetric ratio), placed in steel cylinders (0.5 mL each and with the same dimensions of a standard well in a 48-plate d = 1.1 cm) and left to rest at 37 °C until reaching complete gelation and thermal equilibrium [21,23,24]. Briefly, in the unirradiated solution polymer chains are not overlapped and thus segmental mobility is high.…”

Section: Experimental Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present work deals with controlled drug delivery from a new highly biocompatible and pH-dependent hydrogel [20–23], which was specifically developed for regenerative medicine applications in spinal cord injury (SCI) repair [24,25]. The hydrogel here investigated is also briefly named with the ACx acronym, from the two macromers used for their synthesis: agarose and carbomer 974P, reacting in a statistical block polycondensation [21,24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization and Degradation Behavior of Agar–Carbomer Based Hydrogels for Drug Delivery Applications: Solute Effect

Rossi

Santoro

Casalini

et al. 2011

IJMS

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In this study hydrogels synthesized from agarose and carbomer 974P macromers were selected for their potential application in spinal cord injury (SCI) repair strategies following their ability to carry cells and drugs. Indeed, in drug delivery applications, one of the most important issues to be addressed concerns hydrogel ability to provide a finely controlled delivery of loaded drugs, together with a coherent degradation kinetic. Nevertheless, solute effects on drug delivery system are often neglected in the large body of literature, focusing only on the characterization of unloaded matrices. For this reason, in this work, hydrogels were loaded with a chromophoric salt able to mimic, in terms of steric hindrance, many steroids commonly used in SCI repair, and its effects were investigated both from a structural and a rheological point of view, considering the pH-sensitivity of the material. Additionally, degradation chemistry was assessed by means of infrared bond response (FT-IR) and mass loss.

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“…In vitro the hydrogels supported the adhesion and proliferation of rat MSCs, while in vivo they displayed bioadhesive properties and were able to bridge a spinal cord lesion in a rat model. For the same application, other authors [38] proposed an injectable hydrogel with a controlled nanostructure, together with a new protocol for building three-dimensional (3D) biohybrid cell/hydrogel constructs. Their matrix was tested with glial populations, primary astrocytes, and MSCs and the results indicated that the cells survived the period of latency within the hydrogel.…”

Section: Hydrogel and Mscs As A Synergistic Strategy For Nervous Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogel‐Based Nanocomposites and Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Promising Synergistic Strategy for Neurodegenerative Disorders Therapy

Albani

Gloria

Giordano

et al. 2013

The Scientific World Journal

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Hydrogel-based materials are widely employed in the biomedical field. With regard to central nervous system (CNS) neurodegenerative disorders, the design of injectable nanocomposite hydrogels for in situ drug or cell release represents an interesting and minimally invasive solution that might play a key role in the development of successful treatments. In particular, biocompatible and biodegradable hydrogels can be designed as specific injectable tools and loaded with nanoparticles (NPs), to improve and to tailor their viscoelastic properties upon injection and release profile. An intriguing application is hydrogel loading with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are a very promising therapeutic tool for neurodegenerative or traumatic disorders of the CNS. This multidisciplinary review will focus on the basic concepts to design acellular and cell-loaded materials with specific and tunable rheological and functional properties. The use of hydrogel-based nanocomposites and mesenchymal stem cells as a synergistic strategy for nervous tissue applications will be then discussed.

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Hydrogel for Cell Housing in the Brain and in the Spinal Cord

Cited by 20 publications

References 38 publications

Non-invasive imaging of transplanted human neural stem cells and ECM scaffold remodeling in the stroke-damaged rat brain by 19F- and diffusion-MRI

Non-invasive imaging of transplanted human neural stem cells and ECM scaffold remodeling in the stroke-damaged rat brain by 19F- and diffusion-MRI

Characterization and Degradation Behavior of Agar–Carbomer Based Hydrogels for Drug Delivery Applications: Solute Effect

Hydrogel‐Based Nanocomposites and Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Promising Synergistic Strategy for Neurodegenerative Disorders Therapy

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