NANOSTRUCTURED POROUS SILICON FOR DELIVERY OF NERVE GROWTH FACTOR

Nerve growth factor (NGF) has been well characterized for its essential role in the development and maintenance of neurons. Potential therapeutic applications of this protein have been demonstrated in several models of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. In particular, external administration of NGF exhibits protective properties for injured neurons and stimulates axonal regeneration. However, NGF effectiveness in therapeutics is limited by its short biological half-life due to rapid enzymatic degradation in vivo. Therefore, there is an immense need for delivery systems that will allow for sustained release of NGF. Nanostructured porous silicon (PSi) is characterized by several particularly appealing tunable properties predestining it for design of drug delivery systems, including high surface area, biocompatibility and ability to degrade completely in physiological environment.

Our work aims to develop new PSi-based carriers for the controlled release of NGF. Different PSi nanostructures are fabricated by anodic electrochemical etching of single-crystalline Si wafers and the synthesis conditions are adjusted to allow efficient protein loading by physical adsorption. We demonstrate that NGF entrapment within the PSi carriers increases the protein stability while allowing for its sustained delivery to promote differentiation of PC12 cells.

*Michal Rosenberg and Neta Zilony equal contribution