Red blood cell-like magnetic particles and magnetic field promoted neuronal outgrowth by activating Netrin-1/DCC signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo

Magnetic materials can stimulate neuronal growth under magnetic field (MF) loading without invasive operation, which is expected to be the new method to effectively promote the extension and growth of neurons. In this study, Fe3O4-treated PLGA magnetic particles (MPs) with red blood cell-like shape (Fe3O4@PLGA RBC-like MPs) were constructed by using electrospray approach. The combined effect of Fe3O4@PLGA RBC-like MPs (at 5 μg/mL) and MF (5 mT) caused significant increases of cell viability, axonal elongation, neurite numbers and guidance growth in the primary cultured cortical neurons, which were more obvious than those of RBC-like MPs or MF loading alone. Furthermore, the protective effect of RBC-like MPs and MF loading on mice sciatic nerve injury was also demonstrated. The effect of RBC-like MPs and MF loading was suggested to be related with activation of Netrin-1/deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) signaling pathway.