Nanoparticles nurse neurological diseases

摘要

Silica nanoparticles could potentially revolutionise treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and strokes, say US chemists.rnMichal Stachowiak from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and colleagues have previously studied organically modified silica nanoparticles as gene delivery vehicles. From their results they have now designed nanoparticles that can be used to carry a gene for a form of protein FGFR1 into neuronal stem cells in mouse brains. The protein targets a signalling pathway in the cells, stimulating them to form mature neurons - a process called neurogenesis.