ABSTRACT
Neurodegenerative d isease and traumatic brain injury are the leading causes of brain t issue damage. Alzheimer’s a nd Pa rkinson’s d iseases occur i n at le ast 2 .4 a nd 1 m illion people i n t he United States, respectively, and are the most common neurodegenerative diseases that target a speci c group of neurons ( Parkinson’s D isease F oundation, 2 008; A lzheimer’s F oundation o f A merica, 2 009). C ommon pathological onset for neurodegenerative d isease i s t he accumulation of insoluble lamentous aggregates which underlie early axonal dysfunction and pathology, leading to potentially irreversible neuron degeneration (Skovronsky e t a l., 2 006; Vic kers e t a l., 2 009; Br andt, 2 001). Unlike t he PNS , t he C NS
4.2 E lectrospinning ................................................................................. 4-5 Introduction to Electrospinning • Electrospun Sca olds for Neural Applications
4.4 In Vivo Studies ................................................................................. 4-13 4.5 Su mmary .......................................................................................... 4-13 References ....................................................................................................4-13
provides very l imited self-repair capability. Current t herapeutic strategies focus on stabilizing symptoms and slowing the progression of the disease. Treatment intervention researches are mainly pharmacological or cellular based (Park et al., 2009). Brain damage caused by traumatic brain injury results in immediate a nd delayed cell death leading to a c avity formation a nd g lial scaring (Fitch e t a l., 1999). erapeutic s trategy for brain re pair c an b e de scribed i n t hree s teps: (1) provide neu roprotection to reduce in ammation and prevent secondary cell death, (2) replace damaged neurons and provide appropriate f actors, a nd (3) promote neu rite re generation a nd g rowth to re store o riginal neu ral s tructure (Orive et al., 2009).
