Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42105437›Full record

ArticleNeurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics2026

Telomerase mRNA-Lipid nanoparticles attenuate neuroinflammation after traumatic brain injury in mice.

Goknur Kara, Morgan Holcomb, Anjana Tiwari, Hannah Flinn, Trinity Eimer, Austin Marshall, Marissa Burke, Peter Park, Karem A Court, John P Cooke and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Goknur KaraDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA.
Morgan HolcombDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA.
Anjana TiwariCenter for BioNanoengineering, HMRI, HMAI, Houston, TX, USA.
Hannah FlinnDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA.
Trinity EimerDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA.
Austin MarshallDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA.
Marissa BurkeDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA.
Peter ParkDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA.
Karem A CourtCenter for BioNanoengineering, HMRI, HMAI, Houston, TX, USA.
John P CookeDepartment of Cardiovascular Sciences, Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH), Houston, TX, USA; Center for RNA Therapeutics, HMAI, HMH, Houston, TX, USA.
Biana GodinCenter for BioNanoengineering, HMRI, HMAI, Houston, TX, USA; Center for RNA Therapeutics, HMAI, HMH, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, HMH, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: bgodin@houstonmethodist.org.
Sonia VillapolDepartment of Neurosurgery and Center for Neuroregeneration, Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Houston Methodist Academic Institute (HMAI), Houston, TX, USA; Department of Neuroscience in Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, NY, USA. Electronic address: svillapol@houstonmethodist.org.

Funding

Microbiota-targeted approaches to resolve dysbiosis-induced AD neuropathology following brain injury.R56AG080920 · NIA · METHODIST HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI VILLAPOL, SONIA · 2023 to 2024
$1.3M
The role of the gut microbiome in the neuropathology of traumatic brain injuryR21NS106640 · NINDS · METHODIST HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI VILLAPOL, SONIA · 2018 to 2019
$431k
NIA NIH HHS R56 AG080920NIH HHS R21NS106640
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of chronic neurological disability, yet no disease-modifying therapy exists. Emerging evidence indicates that TBI activates cellular aging programs, including telomere erosion and persistent inflammation, that contribute to progressive neurodegeneration. Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) maintains telomere homeostasis and provides cytoprotective effects in the central nervous system but it has not been therapeutically targeted after TBI. Here, we developed an mRNA nanotherapy consisting of mouse TERT mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (mTERT-LNPs) and evaluated it in a mouse model of moderate TBI. We first established that TBI transiently disrupts TERT biology, with reduced cortical TERT mRNA and shortened telomeres at 3 days post-injury (dpi), followed by partial recovery by 14 dpi. mTERT-LNPs were well tolerated in vitro and in vivo. Following intravenous delivery in the acute post-injury window, LNPs localized to the injured brain and displayed expected peripheral biodistribution. A single systemic dose increased cortical TERT mRNA and protein and partially restored telomere length at 3 dpi. TERT mRNA delivery significantly reduced Iba1+ microglial activation and suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines. Systemically, mTERT-LNPs lowered serum C-reactive protein indicating reduced peripheral inflammation, without adverse effects on peripheral organs. Several outcomes showed sex-dependent patterns. Collectively, these data provide the first in vivo evidence that telomerase therapy can modulate telomere biology and neuroinflammation after TBI, supporting mRNA-LNP-mediated TERT restoration as a scalable, mechanistically grounded strategy for disease modification in TBI and related disorders.

Indexed as

Brain Injuries, TraumaticLipidsNanoparticlesNeuroinflammatory DiseasesRNA, MessengerTelomeraseAnimalsLiposomesMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMicrogliaRNALipid NanoparticlesLipidsLiposomesRNARNA, MessengerTelomerasetelomerase RNATert protein, mouseCytokinesMicroglial activationmRNA–lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNPs)NeuroinflammationTelomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Identifiers

PMID42105437
PMCPMC13185993

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.