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Biomaterials for promoting brain protection, repair and regeneration

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 10, pages 682–692 (2009)Cite this article

Key Points

  • Biomaterials are having an increasingly important role in brain protection, repair and regeneration.

  • Micro and nano-technologies have provided tools that allow cell or tissue transplants to be effectively delivered into the brain.

  • Biomaterial scaffolds placed into the damaged area or cavity potentially provide support for the surrounding brain tissue, function as a substrate for cell growth, axon regeneration and neurite formation, and allow cell infiltration.

  • Biomaterials are being used to promote regeneration and repair of damaged neuronal pathways with stem cell therapies.

  • Current technologies allow greater control over material–cell interactions that mimic specific developmental processes and cellular responses including differentiation, migration and outgrowth.

Abstract

Biomaterials are likely to have an increasingly important role in the treatment of nervous system disorders. Recently developed biomaterials can enable and augment the targeted delivery of drugs or therapeutic proteins to the brain, allow cell or tissue transplants to be effectively delivered to the brain and help to rebuild damaged circuits. Similarly, biomaterials are being used to promote regeneration and to repair damaged neuronal pathways in combination with stem cell therapies. Many of these approaches are gaining momentum because nanotechnology allows greater control over material–cell interactions that induce specific developmental processes and cellular responses including differentiation, migration and outgrowth.

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Figure 1: The neurovascular unit and the potential of active targeting for drug delivery.
Figure 2: Different technologies for drug delivery into the brain.
Figure 3: Polymer scaffolds can serve several important functions in brain repair processes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Sánchez for her assistance in preparing the original figures.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country, Vitoria, 01006, Spain

    Gorka Orive & José Luis Pedraz

  2. Biotechnology Institute (BTI), Instituto Eduardo Anitua,

    Gorka Orive & Eduardo Anitua

  3. c/ Jose María Cagigal 19, Vitoria, 01007, Spain

    Gorka Orive & Eduardo Anitua

  4. Networking Biomedical Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, CIBER-BBN, SLFPB-EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, 01006, Spain

    Gorka Orive & José Luis Pedraz

  5. InCytu, Inc., 701 George Washington Highway, Lincoln, 02865, Rhode Island, USA

    Dwaine F. Emerich

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Correspondence to Dwaine F. Emerich.

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Competing interests

G.O. and E.A are research scientists at the Biotechnology Institute (BTI), Vitoria, Spain. D.F.E. works for InCytu Inc., Lincoln, Rhode Island, USA.

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DATABASES

OMIM

Alzheimer's disease

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Huntington's disease

Parkinson's disease

FURTHER INFORMATION

Neurotech USA press release, March 26th, 2009

NSgene press release, July 4th 2008

Glossary

Proteomics

The large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions.

Oligonucleotide

A short nucleic-acid polymer, typically with 20 or fewer bases.

Extracellular matrix

(ECM). Connective tissue produced largely by fibroblasts and astrocytes that provides diverse inhibitory and growth promoting signals to neurons and their extensions.

Active targeting

A process whereby the surface of a particle is modified with a ligand so that when injected into the body it can bind to, or target, a specific cell receptor.

Bioavailability

The fraction of an administered dose of drug that reaches the systemic circulation. By definition, when a drug is administered intravenously, its bioavailability is 100%.

Reticuloendothelial system

(RES). Part of the immune system that consists of the phagocytic cells located in reticular connective tissue, primarily monocytes and macrophages.

Immunoliposome

A spherical vesicle consisting of one or more concentric lipid bilayers enclosing one or more aqueous compartments that is coupled to an antibody.

Biodegradable

The chemical breakdown of materials by a physiological environment.

Entrapment

The process of incorporating a drug into a particle, scaffold or device. It is also a measurement to determine and compare the efficiency of drug incorporation.

Covalent link

A bond characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms, or between other covalent bonds. In short, attraction-to-repulsion stability that forms between atoms when they share electrons.

Reactive oxygen species

(ROS). Ions or very small molecules that include oxygen ions, free radicals and peroxides, both inorganic and organic. They are highly reactive due to the presence of unpaired valence shell electrons.

Surfactants

Wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and that lower the interfacial tension between two liquids.

Amphiphilic block copolymers

Two or more homopolymer subunits linked by covalent bonds with an intermediate non-repeating subunit, known as a junction block. The amphiphilic copolymer has both lipophilic and hydrophilic parts.

Encapsulation

The enclosure of a drug, peptide, cell or any other material within selectively permeable thermoplastics or three-dimensional particles surrounded or not by additional layers.

Thermoplastic

A polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently.

Glial scar formation (gliosis)

A reactive cellular process involving astrogliosis that occurs after injury to the CNS. The glial scar is the body's mechanism to protect and begin the healing process in the nervous system.

Nanogel

A nanomaterial based on hydrogels of crosslinked polymer network that often combine ionic and non-ionic chains and which enhances the transport of incorporated molecules into the brain.

Cross linking

The joining of adjacent chains of a polymer or protein by creating covalent bonds.

Self assembly

Processes in which a disordered system of pre-existing components forms an organized structure or pattern as a consequence of specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction. An example is the automatic arrangement of phospholipids into a cell wall.

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Orive, G., Anitua, E., Pedraz, J. et al. Biomaterials for promoting brain protection, repair and regeneration. Nat Rev Neurosci 10, 682–692 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2685

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