Targeting reactive astrocytes by pH-responsive ligand-bonded polymeric nanoparticles in spinal cord injury.

In spinal cord injuries, axonal regeneration decreases with the activation of astrocytes followed by glial scar formation. Targeting reactive astrocytes has been recently performed by unsafe viral vectors to inhibit gliosis. In the current study, biocompatible polymeric nanoparticles were selected as an alternative for viruses to target reactive astrocytes for further drug/gene delivery applications.

Use of an in vitro model in tissue engineering to study wound repair and differentiation of blastema tissue from rabbit pinna.

Rabbit ear wound repair is an accepted model for studies of tissue regeneration, leading to scar less wound repair. It is believed that a specific tissue, blastema, is responsible for such interesting capacity of tissue regeneration. To test this idea further and to elucidate the cellular events happening during the ear wound repair, we designed some controlled experiments in vitro.

Systemic transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells can reduce cognitive and motor deficits in rats with unilateral lesions of the neostriatum.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder that usually occurs in the third or fourth decades of life. Stem cell therapy is one of the approaches for HD treatment. Since mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to migrate into the lesioned site, we transplanted rat bone marrow-derived MSCs intravenously, following unilateral intrastriatal lesion made by quinolinic acid (QA) in Wistar rats.

The effect of Rosa damascena essential oil on the amygdala electrical kindling seizures in rat.

We investigated the effect of Rosa damascena Mill, essential oil on the development of induced amygdala kindling seizures. Male Wistar rats were implanted with one tripolar and two monopolar electrodes in right basolateral amygdala and dura surface, respectively. The control group was injected solvent of essential oil and two experimental groups were injected 750 and 1000 mg kg(-1) of essential oil (ip), 30 min before a daily kindling stimulation.