Nanoparticles regenerate neurons and improve cognition in Alzheimer’s mice

The adult human brain has limited capacity to repair or regenerate neurons lost to Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia. Existing treatments can slow disease progression but do not reverse cognitive decline. In a study publishing in the Cell Press journal Cell Biomaterials on August 26, researchers show that engineered nanoparticles can not only regenerate neurons in human brain organoids but also restore neural circuits and improve cognition in mice.

The new neurons can become mature and survive. We also confirmed much higher neuron density in the brains of treated mice."

Xu's team studied a polymer nanogel system called Nano-ERASER that uses antibodies to degrade targeted proteins. They used the system to permeate the blood-brain barrier and enter astrocytes, which are star-shaped support cells abundant in the central nervous system. Within the astrocytes, Nano-ERASER deployed antibodies to break down a protein called PTBP1, triggering the astrocytes to convert to neurons.

Compared to gene-editing tools like CRISPR, Nano-ERASER does not modify DNA and its cell reprogramming is reversible.