About this Research Topic
Injuries in the central and peripheral nervous systems can lead to death or permanent disabilities with a profound impact on the quality of life. Life-threatening injuries are caused by either physical trauma or degenerative diseases and they are traditionally treated by pharmacological approaches that do not fully fix the lesion. New therapeutic approaches are strongly required to assist neural tissue regeneration and restore a compromised neuronal network signaling. Thus, the design of physical/chemical tools for neuronal growth is of the utmost importance: in this regard, one of the main challenges is the development of hybrid solutions with dynamic and tunable properties, which should be at the same time minimally invasive and easy to tailor. In recent years, the potential of nanomaterials has driven an intense research effort in biology and medicine. In particular, nanotechnology is expected to play an important role in medicine, with a major impact on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Significant steps forwards have been achieved. Various nano-based tools have been proven to serve as biocompatible substrates, able to promote cell adhesion and growth, both in vitro and in vivo. Nanomaterials have been tested for drug delivery, and as coatings acting as templates for cell support. Flexible, thermally and electrically conductive 2D and 3D composites, have shown to be extremely convenient for tissue regeneration and/or repair. At the same time, with the aim of achieving early-detection of biomarkers for neuro-pathologies, the development of increasingly sensitive bio-sensors has been widely explored, as well as the design of minimally invasive recording systems (MEAs and implantable electrodes) for monitoring neuronal signaling in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo.
Despite these achievements, important challenges still remain in the fabrication and characterization of nanotech bio-interfaces. Furthermore, the biological effects and mechanisms at play in tissue engineering are not fully understood yet and would thus require further investigation.
The aim of this Research Topic is to attract leading contributions in the neuroscience area to highlight the latest developments in nanomedicine, with a particular focus on biosensing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. Welcome contributions will include the design and characterization of nanotechnology-based composites and their biological effects in in vitro and/or in vivo models. Authors are encouraged to target specific pathologies/disorders. We are willing to receive original research papers, as well as mini-review and review papers.
Keywords: Nanotechnology, Nanomaterials, Brain, Neurons, Electrophysiology
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
