Researchers have developed a hydrogel, or “brain glue,” that can repair tissue following traumatic brain injury.
At a cost of $38 billion a year, an estimated 5.3 million people are living with a permanent disability related to traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the United States today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The physical, mental and financial toll of a TBI can be enormous, but new research from the University of Georgia provides promise.
In a new study, researchers at University of Georgia’s Regenerative Biosciences Center have demonstrated the long-term benefits of a hydrogel, which they call “brain glue,” for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. The new study provides evidence that not only does the gel protect against loss of brain tissue after a severe injury, but it also might aid in functional neural repair.
Brain damage following significant TBI commonly results in extensive tissue loss and long-term disability. There currently are no clinical treatments to prevent the resulting cognitive impairments or tissue loss.
Reported in the journal Sciences Advances, the new finding is the first to provide visual and functional evidence of the repair of brain neural circuits involved in reach-to-grasp movement in brain glue-implanted animals following severe TBI.
The researchers say their work provides a holistic view of what’s going on in the recovery of the damaged region while the animal is accomplishing a specific reach-and-grasp task.
Created by the researcher in 2017, brain glue was designed to mimic the structure and function of the meshwork of sugars that support brain cells. The gel contains key structures that bind to basic fibroblast growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, two protective protein factors that can enhance the survival and regrowth of brain cells after severe TBI.
In a prior short-term study, the research team showed that brain glue significantly protected brain tissue from severe TBI damage. In this new research, to harness the neuroprotective capacity of the original, they further engineered the delivery surface of protective factors to help accelerate the regeneration and functional activity of brain cells. After 10 weeks, the results were apparent.
Animal subjects that were implanted with the brain glue actually showed repair of severely damaged tissue of the brain. The animals also elicited a quicker recovery time compared to subjects without these materials.
To measure the glue’s effectiveness, the team used a tissue-clearing method to make brain tissue optically transparent, which allowed them to visually capture the immediate response of cells in the reach-to-grasp circuit using a 3D imaging technique.
Because of the tissue-clearing method, the researchers were able to obtain a deeper view of the complex circuitry and recovery supported by brain glue. Using these methods along with conventional electrophysiological recordings, the researchers were able to validate that brain glue supported the regeneration of functional neurons in the lesion cavity.
The RTG circuit is evolutionarily similar in rats and humans. The modulation of this circuit in the rat could help speed up clinical translation of brain glue for humans.
News Source: University of Georgia
