Encapsulated Neuroprotection to the Rescue-or How to Safely Protect a Brain From Seizing.

Encapsulated Neuroprotection to the Rescue-or How to Safely Protect a Brain From Seizing. Epilepsy Curr. 2019 Aug 13;:1535759719868464 Authors: Gross C Abstract Long-Term, Targeted Delivery of GDNF From Encapsulated Cells Is Neuroprotective and Reduces Seizures in the Pilocarpine Model of Epilepsy Paolone G, Falcicchia C, Lovisari F, et al. J Neurosci. 2019;39(11):2144-2156. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0435-18.2018. Epub 2019 Jan 21. Neurotrophic factors are candidates for treating epilepsy, but their development has been hampered by difficulties in achieving stable and targeted delivery of efficacious concentrations within the desired brain region. We have developed an encapsulated cell technology that overcomes these obstacles by providing a targeted, continuous, de novo synthesized source of high levels of neurotrophic molecules from human clonal ARPE-19 cells encapsulated into hollow fiber membranes. Here, we illustrate the potential of this approach for delivering glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) directly to the hippocampus of epileptic rats. In vivo studies demonstrated that bilateral intrahippocampal implants continued to secrete GDNF that produced high hippocampal GDNF tissue levels in a long-term manner. Identical implants robustly reduced seizure frequency in the pilocarpine model. Seizures were reduced rapidly, and this effect increased in magnitude over 3 months, ultimately leading to a reduction in seizures b...
Source: Epilepsy Currents - Category: Neurology Tags: Epilepsy Curr Source Type: research