Researchers in Germany developed magnetic nanoparticles that improved movement in mice with Parkinson’s symptoms.
Parkinson’s disease affects around 10 million people worldwide and is caused by the gradual loss of nerve cells that produce dopamine, a chemical messenger that helps coordinate movement. For patients with extreme motor impairments, deep brain stimulation—implanting electrodes into specific areas of the brain connected to a pacemaker-like electrical device—can be an effective treatment, but it requires brain surgery and is not suitable for everyone.
Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) developed a new form of wireless brain stimulation, creating microscopic injectable disc-shaped magnetic particles that respond when exposed to a low-frequency magnetic field outside the body.
After showing that the magnetic particles could successfully activate nerve cells in mouse cell cultures and brain tissue by exerting tiny mechanical forces on cell membranes, the team also injected the particles into the mice’s subthalamic nucleus, a small area deep inside the brain that plays an important role in controlling movement.
When the mice were exposed to an external magnetic field, the particles stimulated nerve cells in this brain region. Healthy mice showed improved balance and coordination, while mice with Parkinson’s-like symptoms experienced a significant improvement in their ability to move.
Danijela Gregurec, from FAU and co-lead author of the study published in Advanced Science, said about the new technology: “It is not only considerably simpler and cheaper than a conventional brain pacemaker, it is probably also more flexible. Adjusting the parameters of the magnetic field would allow us to control the nanoparticles more accurately.”
Danijela Gregurec. CREDIT: FAU-Forscherin