Central nervous system delivery of molecules across the blood-brain barrier

Highlights

• Brain delivery of molecules is an important issue in the field of treatment of CNS diseases.

• The blood-brain barrier (BBB) represents one of the major obstacles for CNS drug delivery.

• Correctly engineered nanoparticles might overcome this limitation.

• Transient BBB opening also shows promising results in pre-clinical and clinical studies.

• Combination of these 2 approaches might lead to improve CNS delivery of drugs & macromolecules.

Abstract

Therapies targeting neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases are hampered by the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). During the last decades, several approaches have been developed to overcome the BBB, such as the use of nanoparticles (NPs) based on biomaterials, or alternative methods to open the BBB. In this review, we briefly highlight these strategies and the most recent advances in this field. Limitations and advantages of each approach are discussed. Combination of several methods such as functionalized NPs targeting the receptor-mediated transcytosis system with the use of magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound (FUS) might be a promising strategy to develop theranostic tools as well as to safely deliver therapeutic molecules, such as drugs, neurotrophic factors or antibodies within the brain parenchyma.