Descripción del proyecto
Campos magnéticos para las enfermedades encefálicas
Los circuitos neuronales son vías del encéfalo que transmiten información y controlan diversas funciones, como el movimiento, las sensaciones y las emociones. Cuando estos circuitos se vuelven disfuncionales, pueden producirse trastornos neurológicos como accidentes cerebrovasculares y epilepsia. El objetivo del proyecto SynMech, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Innovación, es desarrollar una nueva tecnología denominada «mecanogenética» capaz de regular la conectividad funcional de los circuitos neuronales mediante campos magnéticos capaces de penetrar en el tejido encefálico. Mediante el uso de nanopartículas magnéticas funcionalizadas y sensores de bioingeniería, el equipo espera controlar a distancia la actividad de los circuitos encefálicos en modelos murinos de accidentes cerebrovasculares y epilepsia. Esta tecnología podría proporcionar un nuevo método para reparar defectos de conectividad en el encéfalo sin ninguna cirugía invasiva.
Objetivo
We aim to develop a mechanogenetic technology to regulate functional connectivity of neural circuits, and show how it can be harnessed for therapeutic purposes in high-prevalence treatment-resistant brain disorders.
Mechanogenetics is an emerging field of health science that attempts to regulate neural networks by combining the advantages of optogenetics with those of magneto-mechanical stimulations; like optogenetics, it relies on targeted actuators to achieve circuit specificity, while exploiting magnetic fields to remotely stimulate the brain. Yet, despite solid theoretical foundations and encouraging experimental results, we are to date unable to repair a dysfunctional brain using mechanogenetics due to technological barriers in spatial resolution and in vivo implementation.
We propose an innovative solution based on functionalized biocompatible magnetic nanoparticles and bioengineered synaptic mechanosensors that synergistically integrate at specific synaptic connections to bidirectionally regulate brain circuit connectivity in response to focused magnetic fields of different frequencies delivered via high-permeability transcranial magnetic stimulators. By hijacking the signaling pathways of synaptic mechanosensors, we aim to promote a normalization of neural circuit activity that outlasts the therapeutic intervention. We will assess the capacity of the synaptic mechanogenetic toolkit to promote and depress network activity in mouse models of stroke and epilepsy.
To achieve this ambitious goal, we have gathered an interdisciplinary consortium going from material scientists and electronic experts to physiologists and clinicians. Our approach, based on magnetic fields that penetrate brain tissue unimpeded, is predicted to go beyond current therapeutic paradigms because it does not require implantation of invasive devices, and at the same time, promises to achieve subcellular resolution for repairing connectivity defects that underlie most brain disorders.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Convocatoria de propuestas
HORIZON-EIC-2022-PATHFINDEROPEN-01
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaRégimen de financiación
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC GrantsCoordinador
34127 Trieste
Italia