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Review
. 2021 Sep;16(22):2013-2028.
doi: 10.2217/nnm-2021-0113. Epub 2021 Aug 17.

Therapeutic targets and nanomaterial-based therapies for mitigation of secondary injury after spinal cord injury

Jun Gao  1   2 , Minkyung Khang  1 , Zhen Liao  1 , Megan Detloff  3 , Jeoung Soo Lee  1
Affiliations
Review

Therapeutic targets and nanomaterial-based therapies for mitigation of secondary injury after spinal cord injury

Jun Gao et al. Nanomedicine (Lond). 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) and the resulting neurological trauma commonly result in complete or incomplete neurological dysfunction and there are few effective treatments for primary SCI. However, the following secondary SCI, including the changes of microvasculature, inflammatory response and oxidative stress around the injury site, may provide promising therapeutic targets. The advances of nanomaterials hold promise for delivering therapeutics to alleviate secondary SCI and promote functional recovery. In this review, we highlight recent achievements of nanomaterial-based therapy, specifically targeting blood-spinal cord barrier disruption, mitigation of the inflammatory response and lightening of oxidative stress after spinal cord injury.

Keywords: biomaterials; blood–spinal cord barrier; drug delivery; inflammation; nanotechnology; oxidative stress; secondary injury; spinal cord injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This research was partly supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) of the NIH under grant number 5R01 NS111037-02. This research was also partly supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the NIH under award number 5P20GM103444-07 and the South Carolina Bioengineering Center of Regeneration and Formation of Tissues (SCBioCRAFT). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Spinal cord injury pathology and nanomaterial-based therapies.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Blood–spinal cord barrier disruption after spinal cord injury.
BSCB: Blood–spinal cord barrier.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Inflammatory response after spinal cord injury.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Oxidative stress in injured spinal cord after spinal cord injury.
NO: Nitric oxide; ROS: Reactive oxygen species.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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