A team of international researchers carried out a study, in which UniGe also participated, on gold nanoparticles able to counteract the cell death of neurons exposed to overexcitation (excitotoxicity).
nanoparticles were made in the laboratory by the IIT team of Lecce and are decorated with peptides that allow the selective inhibition of extrasynaptic glutamate receptors involved in the phenomenon of excitotoxicity. The size of nanoparticles is 20/50 times larger than that of classic drugs and this feature ensures that they do not block all the receptors present on the cell, but only those located outside the synapses. In this way the correct transmission of the nervous signal is maintained, but the excessive activation that induces the cell death of the neuron is avoided.
Please read the full article on UniGe.life by visiting the useful link.