Browsing by Author "Tyler, Jacqueline Y."

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    Nanomedicine for treating spinal cord injury
    (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013-10-07) Tyler, Jacqueline Y.; Xu, Xiao-Ming; Cheng, Ji-Xin; Department of Neurological Surgery, IU School of Medicine
    Spinal cord injury results in significant mortality and morbidity, lifestyle changes, and difficult rehabilitation. Treatment of spinal cord injury is challenging because the spinal cord is both complex to treat acutely and difficult to regenerate. Nanomaterials can be used to provide effective treatments; their unique properties can facilitate drug delivery to the injury site, enact as neuroprotective agents, or provide platforms to stimulate regrowth of damaged tissues. We review recent uses of nanomaterials including nanowires, micelles, nanoparticles, liposomes, and carbon-based nanomaterials for neuroprotection in the acute phase. We also review the design and neural regenerative application of electrospun scaffolds, conduits, and self-assembling peptide scaffolds.
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    Neuroprotective Ferulic Acid (FA)-Glycol Chitosan (GC) Nanoparticles for Functional Restoration of Traumatically Injured Spinal Cord
    (Elsevier B.V., 2014-02) Wu, Wei; Lee, Seung-Young; Wu, Xiangbing; Tyler, Jacqueline Y.; Wang, He; Ouyang, Zheng; Park, Kinam; Xu, Xiao-Ming; Cheng, Ji-Xin; Department of Neurological Surgery, IU School of Medicine
    An urgent unmet need exists for early-stage treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). Currently methylprednisolone is the only therapeutic agent used in clinics, for which the efficacy is controversial and the side effect is well-known. We demonstrated functional restoration of injured spinal cord by self-assembled nanoparticles composed of ferulic acid modified glycol chitosan (FA-GC). Chitosan and ferulic acid are strong neuroprotective agents but their systemic delivery is difficult. Our data has shown a prolonged circulation time of the FA-GC nanoparticles allowing for effective delivery of both chitosan and ferulic acid to the injured site. Furthermore, the nanoparticles were found both in the gray matter and white matter. The in vitro tests demonstrated that nanoparticles protected primary neurons from glutamate-induced excitotoxicity. Using a spinal cord contusion injury model, significant recovery in locomotor function was observed in rats that were intravenously administered nanoparticles at 2 h post injury, as compared to non-improvement by methylprednisolone administration. Histological analysis revealed that FA-GC treatment significantly preserved axons and myelin and also reduced cavity volume, astrogliosis, and inflammatory response at the lesion site. No obvious adverse effects of nanoparticles to other organs were found. The restorative effect of FA-GC presents a promising potential for treating human SCIs.