Engineering Controlled Peritumoral Inflammation to Constrain Brain Tumor Growth.

Brain tumors remain a great clinical challenge, in part due to their capacity to invade into eloquent, inoperable regions of the brain. In contrast, inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) due to injuries activates microglia and astrocytes culminating in an astroglial scar that typically "walls-off" the injury site. Here, the hypothesis is tested that targeting peritumoral cells surrounding tumors to activate them via an inflammatory stimulus that recapitulates the sequelae of a traumatic CNS injury, could generate an environment that would wall-off and contain invasive tumors in the brain. Gold nanoparticles coated with inflammatory polypeptides to target stromal cells in close vicinity to glioblastoma (GBM) tumors, in order to activate these cells and stimulate stromal CNS inflammation, are engineered. It is reported that this approach significantly contains tumors in rodent models of GBM relative to control treatments (reduction in tumor volume by over 300% in comparison to controls), by the activation of the innate and adaptive immune response, and by triggering pathways related to cell clustering. Overall, this report outlines an approach to contain invasive tumors that can complement adjuvant interventions for invasive GBM such as radiation and chemotherapy.

A regenerative microchannel device for recording multiple single-unit action potentials in awake, ambulatory animals.

Despite significant advances in robotics, commercially advanced prosthetics provide only a small fraction of the functionality of the amputated limb that they are meant to replace. Peripheral nerve interfacing could provide a rich controlling link between the body and these advanced prosthetics in order to increase their overall utility. Here, we report on the development of a fully integrated regenerative microchannel interface with 30 microelectrodes and signal extraction capabilities enabling evaluation in an awake and ambulatory rat animal model. In vitro functional testing validated the capability of the microelectrodes to record neural signals similar in size and nature to those that occur in vivo. In vitro dorsal root ganglia cultures revealed striking cytocompatibility of the microchannel interface. Finally, in vivo, the microchannel interface was successfully used to record a multitude of single-unit action potentials through 63% of the integrated microelectrodes at the early time point of 3 weeks. This marks a significant advance in microchannel interfacing, demonstrating the capability of microchannels to be used for peripheral nerve interfacing.

Nanocarrier-mediated inhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factor attenuates secondary injury after spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to permanent motor and sensory deficits. Following the initial traumatic insult, secondary injury mechanisms characterized by persistent heightened inflammation are initiated and lead to continued and pervasive cell death and tissue damage. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as methylprednisolone (MP) used clinically have ambiguous benefits with debilitating side effects. Typically, these drugs are administered systemically at high doses, resulting in toxicity and paradoxically increased inflammation. Furthermore, these drugs have a small time window postinjury (few hours) during which they need to be infused to be effective. As an alternative to MP, we investigated the effect of a small molecule inhibitor (Chicago sky blue, CSB) of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) for treating SCI. The pleiotropic cytokine MIF is known to contribute to upregulation of several pro-inflammatory cytokines in various disease and injury states. In vitro, CSB administration alleviated endotoxin-mediated inflammation in primary microglia and macrophages. Nanocarriers such as liposomes can potentially alleviate systemic side effects of high-dose therapy by enabling site-specific drug delivery to the spinal cord. However, the therapeutic window of 100 nm scale nanoparticle localization to the spinal cord after contusion injury is not fully known. Thus, we first investigated the ability of nanocarriers of different sizes to localize to the injured spinal cord up to 2 weeks postinjury. Results from the study showed that nanocarriers as large as 200 nm in diameter could extravasate into the injured spinal cord up to 96 h postinjury. We then formulated nanocarriers (liposomes) encapsulating CSB and administered them intravenously 48 h postinjury, within the previously determined 96 h therapeutic window. In vivo, in this clinically relevant contusion injury model in rats, CSB administration led to preservation of vascular and white matter integrity, improved wound healing, and an increase in levels of arginase and other transcripts indicative of a resolution phase of wound healing. This study demonstrates the potential of MIF inhibition in SCI and the utility of nanocarrier-mediated drug delivery selectively to the injured cord.

Relationship between intracortical electrode design and chronic recording function.

Intracortical electrodes record neural signals directly from local populations of neurons in the brain, and conduct them to external electronics that control prosthetics. However, the relationship between electrode design, defined by shape, size and tethering; and long-term (chronic) stability of the neuron-electrode interface is poorly understood. Here, we studied the effects of various commercially available intracortical electrode designs that vary in shape (cylindrical, planar), size (15 µm, 50 µm and 75 µm), and tethering [electrode connections to connector with (tethered) and without tethering cable (untethered)] using histological, transcriptomic, and electrophysiological analyses over acute (3 day) and chronic (12 week) timepoints. Quantitative analysis of histological sections indicated that Michigan 50 µm (M50) and Michigan tethered (MT) electrodes induced significantly (p < 0.01) higher glial scarring, and lesser survival of neurons in regions of blood-brain barrier (BBB) breach when compared to microwire (MW) and Michigan 15 µm (M15) electrodes acutely and chronically. Gene expression analysis of the neurotoxic cytokines interleukin (Il)1 (Il1α, Il1ß), Il6, Il17 (Il17a, Il17b, Il17f), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (Tnf) indicated that MW electrodes induced significantly (p < 0.05) reduced expression of these transcripts when compared to M15, M50 and FMAA electrodes chronically. Finally, electrophysiological assessment of electrode function indicated that MW electrodes performed significantly (p < 0.05) better than all other electrodes over a period of 12 weeks. These studies reveal that intracortical electrodes with smaller size, cylindrical shape, and without tethering cables produce significantly diminished inflammatory responses when compared to large, planar and tethered electrodes. These studies provide a platform for the rational design and assessment of chronically functional intracortical electrode implants in the future.

The impact of chronic blood-brain barrier breach on intracortical electrode function.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have allowed control of prosthetic limbs in paralyzed patients. Unfortunately, the electrodes of the BCI that interface with the brain only function for a short period of time before the signal quality on these electrodes becomes substantially diminished. To truly realize the potential of BCIs, it is imperative to have electrodes that function chronically. In order to elucidate the physiological determinants of a chronically functional neural interface, we studied the role of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in electrode function, because it is a key mediator of neuronal hemostasis. We monitored the status of the BBB and the consequences of BBB breach on electrode function using non-invasive imaging, electrophysiology, genomic, and histological analyses. Rats implanted with commercially available intracortical electrodes demonstrated an inverse correlation between electrode performance and BBB breach over a period of 16 weeks. Genomic analysis showed that chronically functional electrodes elicit an enhanced wound healing response. Conversely, in poorly functioning electrodes, chronic BBB breach led to local accumulation of neurotoxic factors and an influx of pro-inflammatory myeloid cells, which negatively affect neuronal health. These findings were further verified in a subset of electrodes with graded electrophysiological performance. In this study, we determine the mechanistic link between intracortical electrode function and failure. Our results indicate that BBB status is a critical physiological determinant of intracortical electrode function and can inform future electrode design and biochemical intervention strategies to enhance the functional longevity of BCIs.