Empty mesoporous silica particles significantly delay disease progression and extend survival in a mouse model of ALS

Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 26;10(1):20675. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-77578-x.

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating incurable neurological disorder characterized by motor neuron (MN) death and muscle dysfunction leading to mean survival time after diagnosis of only 2-5 years. A potential ALS treatment is to delay the loss of MNs and disease progression by the delivery of trophic factors. Previously, we demonstrated that implanted mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSPs) loaded with trophic factor peptide mimetics support survival and induce differentiation of co-implanted embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived MNs. Here, we investigate whether MSP loaded with peptide mimetics of ciliary neurotrophic factor (Cintrofin), glial-derived neurotrophic factor (Gliafin), and vascular endothelial growth factor (Vefin1) injected into the cervical spinal cord of mutant SOD1 mice affect disease progression and extend survival. We also transplanted boundary cap neural crest stem cells (bNCSCs) which have been shown previously to have a positive effect on MN survival in vitro and in vivo. We show that mimetic-loaded MSPs and bNCSCs significantly delay disease progression and increase survival of mutant SOD1 mice, and also that empty particles significantly improve the condition of ALS mice. Our results suggest that intraspinal delivery of MSPs is a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of ALS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / drug therapy*
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / metabolism
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / pathology*
  • Animals
  • Cell Survival / drug effects*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cervical Cord / drug effects
  • Cervical Cord / metabolism
  • Cervical Cord / pathology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Disease Progression
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / pathology
  • Female
  • Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Motor Neurons / drug effects
  • Motor Neurons / metabolism
  • Motor Neurons / pathology
  • Neural Crest / drug effects
  • Neural Crest / metabolism
  • Neural Crest / pathology
  • Neural Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Neural Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Neural Stem Cells / pathology
  • Silicon Dioxide / pharmacology*
  • Superoxide Dismutase / metabolism
  • Superoxide Dismutase-1 / metabolism
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / metabolism

Substances

  • Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Superoxide Dismutase
  • Superoxide Dismutase-1