title: Regenerative therapies for central nervous system diseases: a biomaterials approach.
abstract: The central nervous system (CNS) has a limited capacity to spontaneously regenerate following traumatic injury or disease, requiring innovative strategies to promote tissue and functional repair. Tissue regeneration strategies, such as cell and/or drug delivery, have demonstrated promising results in experimental animal models, but have been difficult to translate clinically. The efficacy of cell therapy, which involves stem cell transplantation into the CNS to replace damaged tissue, has been limited due to low cell survival and integration upon transplantation, while delivery of therapeutic molecules to the CNS using conventional methods, such as oral and intravenous administration, have been limited by diffusion across the blood-brain/spinal cord-barrier. The use of biomaterials to promote graft survival and integration as well as localized and sustained delivery of biologics to CNS injury sites is actively being pursued. This review will highlight recent advances using biomaterials as cell- and drug-delivery vehicles for CNS repair.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, Toronto, ON, Canada [2] Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Roger Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fuehrmann
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mitrousis
authors.forename: Molly S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shoichet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents