Nanotube and stem cell cocktail heals damaged brain tissue

Filed in archive Research by george elvin on September 17, 2006

If the thought of carbon nanotubes coursing through the bloodstream makes you nervous, you may want to leave the room now. Researchers at Brown University have injected a cocktail of carbon nanofibers and stem cells directly into the brains of rats. And as if that wasn't enough, the rats had already suffered strokes. The result? The nanotube and stem cell cocktail healed neural tissue damaged by the stroke.

Here's how it worked, as reported by Chemical & Engineering News:

Working in collaboration with researchers at Yonsei University, Seoul, Brown Professor Thomas J. Webster combined neural stem cells with either hydrophobic or hydrophilic carbon nanofibers and injected the cocktail into damaged regions of the brains of rats that had suffered a simulated stroke. After a few weeks, both types of nanofibers with stem cells promoted the growth of new neural tissue. On their own, neither nanofibers nor stem cells triggered neural tissue regeneration.

Webster attributes the mixture's regenerative power to the fibers' favorable interaction with laminin, a key protein for promoting stem cell differentiation into neurons. Webster also thinks the nanofibers' ability to conduct electricity could help wire the neurons to one another.

(photo University of Victoria)

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Vote for Nanotube and stem cell cocktail heals damaged brain tissue:

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Rating: 8.63 out of 8 vote(s) cast.

Response from: EasyApplianceParts (09/30/06 11:46pm)

combined neural stem cells with either hydrophobic or hydrophilic carbon Nan fibers and injected the cocktail into damaged regions of the brains of rats that had suffered a simulated stroke, so In addition to their unique mechanical and electrical properties, carbon Nan tubes have also been shown to enhance nerve cell function.

Response from: EasyApplianceParts (09/30/06 11:54pm)

Response from: Sport (10/23/06 6:30am)

Stem cells are extracted from human embryos , how is this still possible? There are human lives sacrificed in the name of science, this is outrageous!

Response from: SciGuy

Would you inject yourself with carbon nanotubes? Probably not, but then again, chances are you've never had a stroke. In addition to their unique mechanical and electrical properties, carbon nanotubes have also been shown to enhance nerve cell function...