Alginate Nanofiber Scaffolds for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosisAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorderNeurodegenerative disorder that causes the loss of upper and lower motor neurons which leads to muscle atrophy and loss of voluntary movement. Currently, treatments approved by the FDA for ALS are expensive and have little benefits, emphasizing the need for more affordable and effective treatment options. This chapter aims to determine the potential of alginateAlginate nanofibersNanofiber cross-linked with calcium, barium and strontium to deliver methylene blue as a treatment for ALS. Methods: This chapter was written with the help of Julia Bielanin’s thesis work and multiple literature reviews found on Web of Science discussing ALS and alginateAlginate nanofiberNanofiber scaffoldsScaffolds for drug deliveryDrug delivery. Results: AlginateAlginate has been shown to successfully encapsulate different ALS therapies including stem cellsStem cell and other neurotrophic factorsNeurotrophic factors. These therapies have been found to promote the survival of motor neurons and improve motor function in animal models of ALS. Additionally, we have shown that alginateAlginate nanofibersNanofiber cross-linked with strontium had the highest loading efficiency at 59.9% and loaded the most moles of methylene blue per mg of nanofiberNanofiber at 2.9 nmol/mg when compared to barium and calcium cross-linked nanofibersNanofiber. The barium alginateAlginate nanofibersNanofiber had the highest structural integrity followed by strontium then calcium. Conclusion: Overall, the use of alginateAlginate nanofibersNanofiber to treat ALS has been shown to be a promising approach for the field of neurodegenerative medicine. The unique properties of these nanofibersNanofiber such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and similarities to the human tissue extracellular matrixExtracellular matrix make them an ideal drug deliveryDrug delivery method to treat ALS. Additionally, their ability to enhance the survival of motor neurons, provide a scaffoldScaffolds for cell therapies and regulate immune response make them promising biomaterialsBiomaterials for any motor neuron disease. Although there is still much research to be done, the potential of alginateAlginate nanofibersNanofiber for the treatment of ALS is exciting and can advance treatment methods for this disease.