Potential Roles of Specific Subclasses of Premotor Interneurons in Spinal Cord Function Recovery after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in Adults.

The differential expression of transcription factors during embryonic development has been selected as the main feature to define the specific subclasses of spinal interneurons. However, recent studies based on single-cell RNA sequencing and transcriptomic experiments suggest that this approach might not be appropriate in the adult spinal cord, where interneurons show overlapping expression profiles, especially in the ventral region. This constitutes a major challenge for the identification and direct targeting of specific populations that could be involved in locomotor recovery after a traumatic spinal cord injury in adults.

Flexible metallic core-shell nanostructured electrodes for neural interfacing.

Electrodes with nanostructured surface have emerged as promising low-impedance neural interfaces that can avoid the charge-injection restrictions typically associated to microelectrodes. In this work, we propose a novel approximation, based on a two-step template assisted electrodeposition technique, to obtain flexible nanostructured electrodes coated with core-shell Ni-Au vertical nanowires. These nanowires benefit from biocompatibility of the Au shell exposed to the environment and the mechanical properties of Ni that allow for nanowires longer and more homogeneous in length than their only-Au counterparts.

High-Performance Implantable Sensors based on Anisotropic Magnetoresistive LaSrMnO for Biomedical Applications.

We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of an implantable neural interface based on anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) magnetic-field sensors that combine reduced size and high performance at body temperature. The sensors are based on LaSrMnO (LSMO) as a ferromagnetic material, whose epitaxial growth has been suitably engineered to get uniaxial anisotropy and large AMR output together with low noise even at low frequencies. The performance of LSMO sensors of different film thickness and at different temperatures close to 37 °C has to be explored to find an optimum sensitivity of ∼400%/T (with typical detectivity values of 2 nT·Hz at a frequency of 1 Hz and 0.

Nanostructured gold electrodes promote neural maturation and network connectivity.

Progress in the clinical application of recording and stimulation devices for neural diseases is still limited, mainly because of suboptimal material engineering and unfavorable interactions with biological entities. Nanotechnology is providing upgraded designs of materials to better mimic the native extracellular environment and attain more intimate contacts with individual neurons, besides allowing for the miniaturization of the electrodes. However, little progress has been done to date on the understanding of the biological impact that such neural interfaces have on neural network maturation and functionality.

Graphene Oxide Microfibers Promote Regenerative Responses after Chronic Implantation in the Cervical Injured Spinal Cord.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is characterized by the disruption of neuronal axons and the creation of an inhibitory environment for spinal tissue regeneration. For decades, researchers and clinicians have been devoting a great effort to develop novel therapeutic approaches which include the fabrication of biocompatible implants that could guide neural tissue repair in the lesion site in an attempt to recover the functionality of the nervous tissue. In this context, although fiberlike structures have been hypothesized to serve as a topographical guidance for axonal regrowth, work on the exploration of this type of materials is still limited for SCI.

3D Reduced Graphene Oxide Scaffolds with a Combinatorial Fibrous-Porous Architecture for Neural Tissue Engineering.

Graphene oxide (GO) assists a diverse set of promising routes to build bioactive neural microenvironments by easily interacting with other biomaterials to enhance their bulk features or, alternatively, self-assembling toward the construction of biocompatible systems with specific three-dimensional (3D) geometries. Herein, we first modulate both size and available oxygen groups in GO nanosheets to adjust the physicochemical and biological properties of polycaprolactone-gelatin electrospun nanofibrous systems. The results show that the incorporation of customized GO nanosheets modulates the properties of the nanofibers and, subsequently, markedly influences the viability of neural progenitor cell cultures.

Interfacing Neurons with Nanostructured Electrodes Modulates Synaptic Circuit Features.

Understanding neural physiopathology requires advances in nanotechnology-based interfaces, engineered to monitor the functional state of mammalian nervous cells. Such interfaces typically contain nanometer-size features for stimulation and recording as in cell-non-invasive extracellular microelectrode arrays. In such devices, it turns crucial to understand specific interactions of neural cells with physicochemical features of electrodes, which could be designed to optimize performance.

Combined Magnetoliposome Formation and Drug Loading in One Step for Efficient Alternating Current-Magnetic Field Remote-Controlled Drug Release.

We have developed a reproducible and facile one step strategy for the synthesis of doxorubicin loaded magnetoliposomes by using a thin-layer evaporation method. Liposomes of around 200 nm were made of 1,2-dipalmitoyl--glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) with negative, positive, and hydrophobic surfaces that were incorporated outside, inside, or between the lipid bilayers, respectively. To characterize how NPs are incorporated in liposomes, advanced cryoTEM and atomic force microscope (AFM) techniques have been used.

Myelinated axons and functional blood vessels populate mechanically compliant rGO foams in chronic cervical hemisected rats.

Neural diseases at the central nervous system including spinal cord injury (SCI) remain therapeutic challenges. Graphene materials are being delineated as alternative tools for neural repair. Herein, the regenerative ability of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) scaffolds to support pivotal features of neural repair at 4 months after SCI is assessed by an interdisciplinary approach.

Graphene-Derived Materials Interfacing the Spinal Cord: Outstanding and Findings.

The attractiveness of graphene-derived materials (GDMs) for neural applications has fueled their exploration as components of biomaterial interfaces contacting the brain and the spinal cord. In the last years, an increasing body of work has been published on the ability of these materials to create biocompatible and biofunctional substrates able to promote the growth and activity of neural cells and positively interact with neural tissues when implanted . Encouraging results in the central nervous tissue might impulse the study of GDMs towards preclinical arena.