NANONEUROHOP

Assessment of the hazard and opportunities of using carbon nanotubes as a new nanocarrier for drug delivery in neural tissue

Coordinatore	UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON    more  Organization address address: GOWER STREET city: LONDON postcode: WC1E 6BT contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Greta Cognome: Borg-Carbott Email: send email Telefono: +44 207 753 5861
Nazionalità Coordinatore	United Kingdom [UK]
Totale costo	199˙549 €
EC contributo	199˙549 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF
Funding Scheme	MC-IEF
Anno di inizio	2011
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2011-07-01   -   2013-06-30

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON  Organization address address: GOWER STREET city: LONDON postcode: WC1E 6BT contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Greta Cognome: Borg-Carbott Email: send email Telefono: +44 207 753 5861	UK (LONDON)	coordinator	199˙549.60
2	"THE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON"  Organization address address: Brunswick Square 29-39 city: LONDON postcode: WC1N 1AX contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Kostas Cognome: Kostarelos Email: send email Telefono: +44 207 753 5861	UK (LONDON)	participant	0.00

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'While neurodegenerative disorders and brain cancers increase in the population, current therapies have shown their limits. But thanks to recent advancements in nanosciences and nanotechnologies, new therapeutic opportunities are offered based on the development of nanoscale drug delivery systems. Among those, carbon nanotubes (CNT) have shown promising applications for therapy of a broad range of diseases because of their highly tunable abilities to transport different molecules and to penetrate cells. In this multidisciplinary project, we propose to use chemically functionalised CNT (f-CNT) as drug delivery systems for brain disease. However, since the knowledge concerning the interaction of CNT and the brain parenchyma is poor, the main goals of the project will be to define: (i) the potential hazard of using f-CNT in the brain and (ii) the pharmaceutical opportunities that these nanocarrier systems could offer. Our overall objective will be to identify critical parameters for the design/engineering of safe and effective carbon nanotubes based drug nanovectors for brain disease, with a special focus on the CNT surface functionalization. We will use both in vitro and in vivo studies to adresses these different questions.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Treating brain disorders such as stroke has been challenging for the medical community. An EU-funded project investigated whether carbon nanotubes might be an effective way to inject medicine directly into the brain.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

During the first part of the NANONEUROHOP project researchers exposed neurons, glial cells, and microglia to nanotubes. These cells came from the frontal cortex and the striatum.

The researchers found that microglia from the striatum were sensitive to carbon nanotubes. To investigate further, they tested these cells in positively charged, negatively charged, and both positively and negatively charged nanotubes over a one-month period. No significant toxicity was found.

Microglia, however, have the ability to absorb foreign materials. Exploring this issue, researchers left microglial cell cultures in each differently charged nanotube for three months. Importantly, the nanotubes were all still present at the end of the three-month period. This showed that degradation is slow in microglia.

Scientists then injected carbon nanotubes into superficial areas of the brains of rodents. Their goal was to observe whether degradation occurred. Scientists observed some degradation after two weeks. Going further, they injected nanotubes into deep brain regions. Degradation was more advanced in these areas. In both studies, the health and behaviour of the animals were not affected.

These studies have improved understanding of the reaction of the brain when exposed to carbon nanotubes. The research showed the need for more biocompatible materials and the importance of considering where in the brain the nanotubes should be placed. Further investigation will be needed to assess the long-term safety and degradation of nanotubes after injection.

A secondary aim of NANONEUROHOP was to develop the managerial, writing and mentoring skills as well as scientific expertise of a funded researcher. This part of the project was also successful. This individual mentored eight scientists and generated many publications The researcher is now on the way toward a successful career.