Newly Developed Cell Transplantation Delivery Method Could Treat Traumatic Brain Injury

October 30, 2015

(Eurekalert) – Now, a research team from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the Veterans Administration Maryland Healthcare System has successfully directed human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) to injured brain areas by labeling them with iron-oxide “superparamagnetic nanoparticles” and guiding them to the site of injury using a magnetic field. Tested on rats modeled with TBI, they found that the magnetic field delivery method does not affect the viability of hNPCs and that the method provides both increased homing to the injury site as well as retention of the transplanted cells.