Thermosensitive chitosan-based hydrogel: A vehicle for overcoming the limitations of nose-to-brain cell therapy

Cell therapy is a promising strategy for treating neurological pathologies but requires invasive methods to bypass the blood-brain barrier restrictions. The nose-to-brain route has been presented as a direct and less invasive alternative to access the brain. The primary limitations of this route are...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ojeda-Hernández, Doddy Denise, Velasco-Lozano, Susana, Fraile, José M., Mateos-Díaz, Juan Carlos, Rojo, Francisco Javier, Benito-Martín, María Soledad, Selma-Calvo, Belén, Fuente-Martín, Sarah de la, García-Martín, Marina, Larriba-González, María Teresa, Hernández-Sapiéns, Mercedes Azucena, Canales-Aguirre, Alejandro A., Matias-Guiu, Jordi A., Matias-Guiu, Jorge, Gomez-Pinedo, Ulises
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/373450
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/373450
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Functionalized chitosan
Thermosensitive hydrogel
Mucoadhesive
Nose-to-brain
Cell therapy
Bioactive vehicle
Descripción
Sumario:Cell therapy is a promising strategy for treating neurological pathologies but requires invasive methods to bypass the blood-brain barrier restrictions. The nose-to-brain route has been presented as a direct and less invasive alternative to access the brain. The primary limitations of this route are low retention in the olfactory epithelium and poor cell survival in the harsh conditions of the nasal cavity. Thus, using chitosan-based hydrogel as a vehicle is proposed in this work to overcome the limitations of nose-to-brain cell administration. The hydrogel's design was driven to achieve gelification in response to body temperature and a mucosa-interacting chemical structure biocompatible with cells. The hydrogel showed a < 30 min gelation time at 37 °C and >95 % biocompatibility with 2D and 3D cultures of mesenchymal stromal cells. Additionally, the viability, stability, and migration capacity of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) within the hydrogel were maintained in vitro for up to 72 h. After the intranasal administration of the OPCs-containing hydrogel, histological analysis showed the presence of viable cells in the nasal cavity for up to 72 h post-administration in healthy athymic mice. These results demonstrate the hydrogel's capacity to increase the residence time in the nasal cavity while providing the cells with a favorable environment for their viability. This study presents for the first time the use of thermosensitive hydrogels in nose-to-brain cell therapy, opening the possibility of increasing the delivery efficiency in future approaches in translational medicine.