Building a Scaffold for Brain Repair
Segura and her team sought to create an environment inside the stroke cavity that could support several types of repair at once.
They used MAPS, or microporous annealed particle scaffolds. These scaffolds consist of individual hydrogel microparticles that assemble into a porous structure. The open spaces provide cells with a framework they can enter and use while rebuilding neural tissue.
Building on earlier successes with the biomaterial, the researchers wanted to determine whether they could also use the body’s immune system to guide and strengthen the repair process.
For that part of the strategy, they focused on astrocytes. These star-shaped cells play important roles in normal brain function and respond quickly when the brain is injured.
Astrocytes communicate with surrounding cells partly by releasing extracellular vesicles, or EVs. These extremely small packages carry proteins, lipids and genetic material that can influence the behavior of other cells.