Gene therapy of fractures
Bone-restoring Nanoparticles with DNA trim
ChemPort based on RSC materials: Bone-repairing nanoparticles laced with DNAResearchers from Germany have developed a bone-restoring paste with nanoparticles.
This invention will help accelerate the healing of fractures and fractures of bones.
The basis of the new material is synthetic nanoparticles based on calcium phosphate, in which two bone growth factor genes are encapsulated. These genes can be introduced into the cell and induce the synthesis of proteins that can accelerate the growth of bone tissue.
The treatment of cases involving fractures, cracks and even the loss of bone fragments associated with injuries or operations (for example, removal of a tumor) is still a difficult task for doctors.
Matthias Epple from the University of Duisburg-Essen, under whose leadership the new bone paste was developed, explains that many currently existing methods of therapy – transplantation of donor bones, as well as the use of synthetic calcium phosphate have a number of disadvantages – there is a risk of infection, the bone areas restored in this way are characterized by low mechanical stability, calcium phosphate may be improperly resorbed by the bone being restored.
To develop a new composition for tissue repair, researchers from the Apple group decided to combine the bone-forming properties of calcium phosphate (the main component of bone) with additional stimulation of bone growth to the tissue surrounding the injured site.
The genes of two bone growth factors are encapsulated in calcium phosphate nanoparticles – bone morphogenetic protein 7 (bone morphogenetic protein 7, BMP-7), which stimulates the work of bone-forming cells, and vascular endothelial growth factor (vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF), which induces the growth of blood vessels to nourish bone cells.
After injection into the injury site, the nanoparticles are absorbed by the surrounding cells, the acidic environment of the lysosomes dissolves calcium phosphate, resulting in the release of genes. These transfected cells begin to produce factors that accelerate bone growth, thereby reducing the time during which the patient is forcibly immobilized. Apple assumes that the stimulating effect of the new system will last for months and years, which will allow you to do with a single injection.
Michael Hoffman, a specialist in the development of bone cement and targeted drug delivery systems from the University of Birmingham, notes that the new bone paste will be replaced very quickly by freshly growing bone, that is, in this case we are dealing with a disappearing implant, which may be very useful for people with impaired bone growth functions – for example, elderly people suffering from osteoporosis. Hoffman believes that the new material has a huge potential for accelerating the growth or healing of fractures and cracks of bone tissue and can find application in both orthopedics and dentistry.
Researchers from the Apple group plan to continue their work on the study of calcium phosphate nanoparticles, trying to make them recognize certain types of cells by inoculating certain antibodies to the surface of the nanoparticles.
Article by Chernousova et al. A genetically active nano-calcium phosphate paste for bone substitution, encoding the formation of BMP-7 and VEGF-A is published in the journal RSC Advances.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru18.02.2013