Synthesis and Characterization of a Silica-Based Drug Delivery System for Spinal Cord Injury Therapy

Abstract

Acute inflammation is a central component in the progression of spinal cord injury (SCI). Anti-inflammatory drugs used in the clinic are often administered systemically at high doses, which can paradoxically increase inflammation and result in drug toxicity. A cluster-like mesoporous silica/arctigenin/CAQK composite (MSN-FC@ARC-G) drug delivery system was designed to avoid systemic side effects of high-dose therapy by enabling site-specific drug delivery to the spinal cord. In this nanosystem, mesoporous silica was modified with the FITC fluorescent molecule and CAQK peptides that target brain injury and SCI sites. The size of the nanocarrier was kept at approximately 100 nm to enable penetration of the blood–brain barrier. Arctigenin, a Chinese herbal medicine, was loaded into the nanosystem to reduce inflammation. The in vivo results showed that MSN-FC@ARC-G could attenuate inflammation at the injury site. Behavior and morphology experiments suggested that MSN-FC@ARC-G could diminish local microenvironment damage, especially reducing the expression of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and IL-17-related inflammatory factors, inhibiting the activation of astrocytes, thus protecting neurons and accelerating the recovery of SCI. Our study demonstrated that this novel, silica-based drug delivery system has promising potential for clinical application in SCI therapy.

Microarray and Bioinformatics Analysis of Differential Gene and lncRNA Expression during Erythropoietin Treatment of Acute Spinal Cord Injury in Rats

“…In addition, an increase of IL-17 concentration can result in the increase in the size of a lesion after SCI. Study has shown that reducing the expression of IL-17 and IL-17-related inflammatory factors can protect neurons and promote recovery after SCI [33]. In the PPI network developed in this study, the top 10 high-degree hub nodes (Ccl4, Ppbp, Cxcl13, Ahsp, Ccl5, Alas2, Npy, Gng13, Ccl2, and Hba2.)…”

Design of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with a Therapeutic Cocktail Based on Leptin and Pioglitazone

“…Silicon coming from the functionalized MSNs was detected in both CTX and SC tissues, as observed in a recent study. 36 In all cases, concentrations above 2300 ppm were observed ( Table S1 ), pointing to the fact that the tested materials were able to reach the target tissues and act as encapsulators or carriers of the combination of drugs leptin and pioglitazone and were able to cross the BBB.…”

“…35 Thus, to the best of our knowledge, we report one of the first examples of effective treatment of ALS by silica-based drug delivery of nanomaterials to biological targets in the central nervous system. 30,36 Our results open up promising new possibilities in the fight against the symptoms and fatal progression of this disease.…”

Regulating the microenvironment with nanomaterials: Potential strategies to ameliorate COVID-19

“…Nanomaterials have higher efficiency and certain pertinence because they more directly regulate the imbalance of homeostasis. Therefore, introducing NPs and nanotechnology may be a new therapeutic strategy for maintaining the balance of the microenvironment 207 .…”