book of abstracts - IM2NP

A B S T R A C T S MONDAY, JUNE 28 N A N O S E A 2 0 1 0
Room Port-Pin
17H00-17H30
Applications of Nano-assembly in Neuroscience: From Multimodal
Imaging to Regenerative Scaffolds.
K.Swaminathan Iyer1* Cameron W. Evans1,2, Dominic Ho1, Jie Fang1, Melissa J.
Latter1, Colin L. Raston1, Alan R. Harvey3, 
Sarah A. Dunlop2, Melinda
Fitzgerald2 (Centre for Strategic Nano-fabrication, School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical
Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia; 2 Experimental
and Regenerative Neurosciences, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling
Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia; 3 School of Anatomy and Human BiologyThe University of Western
Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia) +61 8 6488 4470,
swaminatha.iyer@student.uwa.edu.au
Neurotrauma is defined as a “traumatic injury of the central nervous system (CNS)”. Such traumatic CNS
can be attained as a result of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) . The consequences of
such injuries in victims are usually dire and will usually lead to disability. This disability can range from
paralysis and life time loss of function e.g. loss of vision to death. Injuries from neurotrauma can occur via
both the initial traumatic impact and the secondary injury cascade which results thereafter. Following the
initial impact, the neurons at the injury site undergo primary injury and die via necrotic cell death.
Furthermore, functionally important reactive changes in the supporting glial cells e.g. astrocytes and myelin
producing oligodendrocytes occurs. Neurons close to the injury site are axotomised and undergo a slower
form of cell death termed “apoptosis”. Cell death occurring as a result of both primary and secondary injury
is difficult to prevent, however, some neurons do survive these events. Hence, promoting axon regeneration
and neuroprotection remains a highly challenging obstacle and is also the key to regaining functional
recovery.
Application of nanotechnology in neuroscience is an emerging field with great potential.For example,
nanotechnology has been used to examine diverse aspects such as glycine receptor function, drug delivery
across the blood brain barrier5 and to provide micropatterns to control neuronal growth and connectivity.
Recent exciting advances are also being made in neuroprotection (preventing cell death of neurons and
supporting glia) and neuroregeneration (promoting axon regrowth) after CNS injury which build on
extensive work at a “macro” level using synthetic, natural and biological materials for drug delivery
scaffolds.
The presentation will focus on the synthesis of various magnetic fluorescent nano-hybrid systems using
polymeric, inorganic and a macromolecular assembly approach for multimodal imaging and towards targeted
drug delivery. We will also present the use of self-assembling RADA16 peptide scaffolds as platforms for
regeneration. We will explore the applications of these novel materials as potential vehicles for
neuroprotection and neuroregeneration.
Acknowledgment
Financial support of this work was provided by the Australian Research Council. We acknowledge the
facilities, scientific and technical assistance of the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility
at the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation & Analysis, The University of Western Australia.
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