US Patent 7534453 - Cerium oxide nanoparticles for enhanced brain cell survivability

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7534453.html

This patent from the University of Central Florida Research Foundation teaches that cerium oxide nanoparticles are useful to reduce damage from free radicals offering a potential treatment for stroke and traumatic brain injuries. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for enhancing the survivability of living biological cells comprising:

selecting a plurality of living biological cells, wherein the cells are brain cells;

adding in-vitro, one single application of non agglomerated, ultra fine, engineered nanoparticles of cerium oxide of the size approximately 2 nm to approximately 10 nm wherein the nanoparticles contain a plurality of oxygen vacancies in a lattice structure and the oxygen vacancies support biological activity as free radical scavengers to cultures of the plurality of living brain cells; and

enhancing a lifespan of the living brain cell cultures when the cerium oxide particles function as a regenerative free radical scavenger wherein after one free radical scavenging event has occurred, the cerium oxide particles remain biologically available for more than one free radical scavenging event.