Nanoparticle-Based Systems for Delivery of Protein Therapeutics to the Spinal Cord

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) often have debilitating effects on patients and can severely impact quality of life. Each year there are about 20,000 new injuries and currently there may be up to 350,000 SCI patients in the United States. Finding a treatment for these injuries is therefore of utmost importance and axon regeneration may prove to be one of the most promising alternatives. The first approach involves an affinity-based delivery system which essentially consists of a polymeric matrix that has a ligand for our therapeutic of interest immobilized on the matrix. The rate of release of the therapeutic can therefore be controlled by modulating the dissociation kinetics of our protein therapeutic and its matrix-immobilized ligand. The second approach involves a nanoparticle delivery system which essentially modulates release of the protein therapeutics by degradation of the particle matrix. The proteins are encapsulated in the nanoparticles and, after an initial period of rapid release, are slowly released as the particle matrix progressively degrades.

• 1
  Inducing axon regeneration is possible, as a 2010 study found that mice treated with IGF-1 displayed significant gains in axon number and diameter following peripheral nerve injury.
• 2
  Co-expression of IGF1 and osteopontin (OPN) could promote axon regeneration in retinal ganglion cells.
• 3
  Overexpression of fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF-1) in the spinal cord improves functional recovery after SCI, as measured by the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan locomotion scale.