Functional rewiring across spinal injuries via biomimetic nanofiber scaffolds.

The regrowth of severed axons is fundamental to reestablish motor control after spinal-cord injury (SCI). Ongoing efforts to promote axonal regeneration after SCI have involved multiple strategies that have been only partially successful. Our study introduces an artificial carbon-nanotube based scaffold that, once implanted in SCI rats, improves motor function recovery. Confocal microscopy analysis plus fiber tracking by magnetic resonance imaging and neurotracer labeling of long-distance corticospinal axons suggest that recovery might be partly attributable to successful crossing of the lesion site by regenerating fibers. Since manipulating SCI microenvironment properties, such as mechanical and electrical ones, may promote biological responses, we propose this artificial scaffold as a prototype to exploit the physics governing spinal regenerative plasticity.

Ventrolateral periaqueductal gray matter integrative system of defense and antinociception.

Defensive responses are neurophysiological processes crucial for survival during threatening situations. Defensive immobility is a common adaptive response, in rodents, elaborated by ventrolateral periaqueductal gray matter (vlPAG) when threat is unavoidable. It is associated with somatosensory and autonomic reactions such as alteration in the sensation of pain and rate of respiration. In this study, defensive immobility was assessed by chemical stimulation of vlPAG with different doses of NMDA (0.1, 0.3, and 0.6 nmol). After elicitation of defensive immobility, antinociceptive and respiratory response tests were also performed. Results revealed that defensive immobility was followed by a decrease in the nociceptive perception. Furthermore, the lowest dose of NMDA induced antinociceptive response without eliciting defensive immobility. During defensive immobility, respiratory responses were also disturbed. Interestingly, respiratory rate was increased and interspersed with prolonged expiratory phase of breathing. These findings suggest that vlPAG integrates three different defensive behavioral responses, contributing to the most effective defensive strategies during threatening situations.

Nanomedicine and graphene-based materials: advanced technologies for potential treatments of diseases in the developing nervous system.

The interest in graphene-based nanomaterials (GBNs) application in nanomedicine, in particular in neurology, steadily increased in the last decades. GBNs peculiar physical-chemical properties allow the design of innovative therapeutic tools able to manipulate biological structures with subcellular resolution. In this review, we report GBNs applications to the central nervous system (CNS) when these nanomaterials are engineered as potential therapeutics to treat brain pathologies, with a focus on those of the pediatric age. We revise the state-of-the art studies addressing the impact of GBNs in the CNS, showing that the design of GBNs with different dimensions and chemical compositions or the use of specific administration routes and doses can limit unwanted side effects, exploiting GBNs efficacy in therapeutic approaches. These features favor the development of GBNs-based multifunctional devices that may find applications in the field of precision medicine for the treatment of disorders in the developing CNS. In this framework, we address the suitability of GBNs to become successful therapeutic tools, such as drug nano-delivery vectors when being chemically decorated with pharmaceutical agents and/or other molecules to obtain a high specific targeting of the diseased area and to achieve a controlled release of active molecules. IMPACT: The translational potential of graphene-based nanomaterials (GBNs) can be used for the design of novel therapeutic approaches to treat pathologies affecting the brain with a focus on the pediatric age. GBNs can be chemically decorated with pharmaceutical agents and molecules to obtain a highly specific targeting of the diseased site and a controlled drug release. The type of GBNs, the selected functionalization, the dose, and the way of administration are factors that should be considered to potentiate the therapeutic efficacy of GBNs, limiting possible side effects. GBNs-based multifunctional devices might find applications in the precision medicine and theranostics fields.

Thin graphene oxide nanoflakes modulate glutamatergic synapses in the amygdala cultured circuits: Exploiting synaptic approaches to anxiety disorders.

Anxiety disorders (ADs) are nervous system maladies involving changes in the amygdala synaptic circuitry, such as an upregulation of excitatory neurotransmission at glutamatergic synapses. In the field of nanotechnology, thin graphene oxide flakes with nanoscale lateral size (s-GO) have shown outstanding promise for the manipulation of excitatory neuronal transmission with high temporal and spatial precision, thus they were considered as ideal candidates for modulating amygdalar glutamatergic transmission. Here, we validated an in vitro model of amygdala circuitry as a screening tool to target synapses, towards development of future ADs treatments. After one week in vitro, dissociated amygdalar neurons reconnected forming functional networks, whose development recapitulated that of the tissue of origin. When acutely applied to these cultures, s-GO flakes induced a selective modification of excitatory activity. This type of interaction between s-GO and amygdalar neurons may form the basis for the exploitation of alternative approaches in the treatment of ADs.

Delivery of graphene oxide nanosheets modulates glutamate release and normalizes amygdala synaptic plasticity to improve anxiety-related behavior.

Graphene oxide nanosheets (GO) were reported to alter neurobiological processes involving cell membrane dynamics. GO ability to reversibly downregulate specifically glutamatergic synapses underpins their potential in future neurotherapeutic developments. Aberrant glutamate plasticity contributes to stress-related psychopathology and drugs which target dysregulated glutamate represent promising treatments. We find that in a rat model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a single injection of GO to the lateral amygdala following the stressful event induced PTSD-related behavior remission and reduced dendritic spine densities. We explored from a mechanistic perspective how GO could impair glutamate synaptic plasticity. By simultaneous patch clamp pair recordings of unitary synaptic currents, live-imaging of presynaptic vesicle release and confocal microscopy, we report that GO nanosheets altered the probability of release enhancing the extinction of synaptic plasticity in the amygdala. These findings show that the modulation of presynaptic glutamate release might represent an unexplored target for (nano)pharmacological interventions of stress-related disorders.

Correction to "Bonding of Neuropeptide Y on Graphene Oxide for Drug Delivery Applications to the Central Nervous System".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.2c03409.].

Bonding of Neuropeptide Y on Graphene Oxide for Drug Delivery Applications to the Central Nervous System.

Nanoscale graphene-based materials (GBMs) enable targeting subcellular structures of the nervous system, a feature crucial for the successful engineering of alternative nanocarriers to deliver drugs and to treat neurodisorders. Among GBMs, graphene oxide (GO) nanoflakes, showing good dispersibility in water solution and being rich of functionalizable oxygen groups, are ideal core structures for carrying biological active molecules to the brain, such as the neuropeptide Y (NPY). In addition, when unconjugated, these nanomaterials have been reported to modulate neuronal function per se. Although some GBM-based nanocarriers have been tested both in vitro and in vivo, a thorough characterization of covalent binding impact on the biological properties of the carried molecule and/or of the nanomaterial is still missing. Here, a copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition strategy was employed to synthesize the GO-NPY complex. By investigating through electrophysiology the impact of these conjugates on the activity of hippocampal neurons, we show that the covalent modification of the nanomaterial, while making GO an inert platform for the vectorized delivery, enhances the duration of NPY pharmacological activity. These findings support the future use of GO for the development of smart platforms for nervous system drug delivery.

Graphene oxide prevents lateral amygdala dysfunctional synaptic plasticity and reverts long lasting anxiety behavior in rats.

Engineered small graphene oxide (s-GO) sheets were previously shown to reversibly down-regulate glutamatergic synapses in the hippocampus of juvenile rats, disclosing an unexpected translational potential of these nanomaterials to target selective synapses in vivo. Synapses are anatomical specializations acting in the Central Nervous System (CNS) as functional interfaces among neurons. Dynamic changes in synaptic function, named synaptic plasticity, are crucial to learning and memory. More recently, pathological mechanisms involving dysfunctional synaptic plasticity were implicated in several brain diseases, from dementia to anxiety disorders. Hyper-excitability of glutamatergic neurons in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala complex (LA) is substantially involved in the storage of aversive memory induced by stressful events enabling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here we translated in PTSD animal model the ability of s-GO, when stereotaxically administered to hamper LA glutamatergic transmission and to prevent the behavioral response featured in long-term aversive memory. We propose that s-GO, by interference with glutamatergic plasticity, impair LA-dependent memory retrieval related to PTSD.