In the ever persistent battle against cancer, scientists have discovered a surprising and wonderful treatment for spinal cord injuries. Researchers at Purdue University have discovered that using a synthetic particle called copolymer micelles; we can repair damaged axons in the spinal cord, effectively patching spinal cord injuries. This discovery comes as a great surprise says Ji-Xin Cheng, an associate professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry. “Micelles have been used for 30 years as drug-delivery vehicles in research, but no one has ever used them directly as a medicine."
Like the body of a virus, copolymer micelles are simply containers that can be filled with a substance. Because of this, medical experts have been using them as the vehicle for drugs for years. They are well suited for this role because these containers are only about 60 nanometers in diameter, which is about one hundred times smaller than a red blood cell, and because they have an outer shell made of a material called polyethylene glycol. This shell is what keeps the copolymer micelles from dissolving in water allowing them to more effectively deliver medicine. The combination of their size and substance means that micelles are not immediately filtered by the kidney or captured by the liver, and can travel through the bloodstream, targeting damaged cells and repairing them. Coincidentally, this feature is also what makes them effective at repairing nerve cells.
Polyethylene glycol is a substance conventionally used to repair damaged nerve cells. When applied to areas with damaged cells, polyethylene glycol targets damaged cells and seals off the injured area, preventing further damage and helping to restore cell function. This is exactly how copolymer micelles work. They travel through the bloodstream, targeting damaged cells and repairing them. And because of the nature of the micelle, they are far more effective than regular old polyethylene glycol.
Applying polyethylene glycol directly works well, but copolymer micelles are much better, and require far less substance. “With micelles, about 1/100,000th the concentration of regular polyethylene glycol”, and even better, using micelles, effectiveness of treatment jumps from about 18 percent to an amazing 60 percent. This is a huge leap forward in efficiency and effectiveness, and could lead to better treatments.
Safety is also a non-issue, because research led by biomedical engineering doctoral student Yunzhou Shi showed that the micelles were, “non-toxic at the concentrations required”. It seems like this discovery leads to improvements in every way, and this is fortunate for people with this kind of injury.
I think this discovery is a great find, and will eventually produce a treatment that will help a lot of people. It is always amazing how research toward one goal often creates discoveries for something totally unrelated, but such advancements are why it is important to do all kinds of work in all fields of research.
Sources:
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009b/091108ChengSpinal.html
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=13424.php
Nathan Fowler
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