When people experience traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), immediate damage occurs from the blows to the brain, but the harm can continue in the weeks and months that follow. Researchers from Missouri University of Science and Technology are studying how an antioxidant material could potentially stop this ongoing damage. 
 
“A person’s life can change in the blink of an eye after a car accident, sports injury, a hard fall or any other traumatic event that causes a severe brain injury,” says Dr. Aaron Priester, who dedicated his Ph.D. research in materials science and engineering at Missouri S&T to this topic. “Millions of Americans are living with disabilities caused by brain injuries, and millions more experience these injuries each year — with many losing their lives.” 
 
“The treatment we are developing could one day target the molecules causing damage after the initial injury and stop them.” 
 
Priester, who finished his Ph.D. in December 2024, is now a postdoctoral fellow for Dr. Anthony Convertine, an S&T Roberta and G. Robert Couch Assistant Professor of materials science and engineering. 
 
He says the two primary molecules that cause issues after a TBI are called reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation products, and they can lead to more inflammation and cell death in the brain, as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s disease. 
 
As part of Convertine’s team, he is researching how a thiol group, which is a type of antioxidant that has a sulfur atom connected to a hydrogen atom, can help stop this. He says that the hydrogen atom in the thiol group can share its electron with other molecules, potentially stopping the damage these molecules cause to brain cells. 
 
To deliver the thiol group to the brain, Priester is researching how it can be added to polymers, or nano-sized materials made of long sequences of organic molecules, which can be designed to carry the antioxidant through the bloodstream and across the blood-brain barrier.  
 
He is also researching how to engineer the material with traits such as water solubility, which would help it dissolve and circulate in the bloodstream, and with modifications that would allow the thiol group to arrive and attach to the affected areas of the brain and get to work stopping future damage.   
 
Last month, Priester published an article in The Conversation explaining this process in more detail. 
 
Another aspect of his research is how the polymers can also include gadolinium, a rare-earth metal, which can be used for tracking and imaging in the brain and providing real-time monitoring of the treatment and its benefits. 
 
Priester says he has seen a strong potential for this treatment to be effective when using murine models, and he hopes it can eventually make it to the clinical trial stage and see it be part of the regular course of treatment for TBI patients. 
 
“Right now, we are continuing to refine certain aspects of the thiols so even more could potentially be included with the polymer, and we are also looking at how to more efficiently produce the treatment,” Priester says. “It can take a lot of experimentation, approvals and time to ultimately get something like this into the hands of health care providers, but we are optimistic with the progress we are making toward that goal.” 

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit  www.mst.edu.