Insight article:  Nanomedicine and nanotechnology delivery systems are relatively new but have shown promising results and potential for innovative new drugs.  A major breakthrough has been the development of peptide self-assemblies (also known as NanoLigand Carriers) for the delivery of nucleic acid medicines.

“Over the years, complex design (with poor pharmaceutical attributes), poor target recognition, low frequency of crossing the BBB, and poor ability to subsequently target parenchymal cells (for example, neurons and microglia cells) are among some of the major challenges for achieving drug delivery to the brain,” says Moein Moghimi, Professor of Pharmaceutics and Nanomedicine at Newcastle University. 

Professor Moein Moghimi, who led the research team, said, "Crossing the blood-brain-barrier has been a major impediment to effectively addressing central nervous system diseases, including brain tumors, and many neurological diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's. This breakthrough, based on more than 10 years of research, has significant implications for crossing the blood-brain-barrier and other biological barriers that have created challenges for drug delivery."

Professor Moghimi and his team engineered small particles using a peptide that can behave like a carrier (like viruses) to the brain and can be packed with drugs for intravenous injection. This allows for minimally invasive and combination drug delivery to the brain.

In a groundbreaking study published October 11 in Nature Communications, an international team of scientists from Newcastle University and Denver-based S M Discovery Group (SMDG) have designed a carrier system that delivers medicines to the brain through intravenous injection.

This editorial highlights advances in brain barrier and brain fluid research published in 2019, as well as addressing current controversies and pressing needs. Topics include recent advances related to:  the impact of disease states on brain barriers and brain fluids; drug delivery to the brain; and translation of preclinical data to the clinic. 

Scientists have found a way to effectively transport medication into the brain which could lead to improved treatments for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.

Scientists have traditionally faced the problem that blood capillaries in the brain are not permeable to many drugs. In fact, the majority of drugs are excluded from the brain by a protective barrier, called the blood-brain-barrier (BBB), and current treatment options are risky and challenging.

Professor Moein Moghimi, who led the research team, said, "Crossing the blood-brain-barrier has been a major impediment to effectively addressing central nervous system diseases, including brain tumors, and many neurological diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's. This breakthrough, based on more than 10 years of research, has significant implications for crossing the blood-brain-barrier and other biological barriers that have created challenges for drug delivery."

The BBB accounts for the failure of a large number of promising neurotherapeutics, including nucleic acid medicines such as RNA interference (siRNA). In the past decade, we have witnessed vested efforts in finding viable strategies for drug delivery to the brain through minimally invasive routes of administration and without compromising the integrity of the BBB. 

In a groundbreaking study published October 11 in Nature Communications, an international team of scientists have designed a carrier system that delivers medicines to the brain through intravenous injection.

Professor Moein Moghimi, who led the research team, said, "Crossing the blood-brain-barrier has been a major impediment to effectively addressing central nervous system diseases, including brain tumors, and many neurological diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's. This breakthrough, based on more than 10 years of research, has significant implications for crossing the blood-brain-barrier and other biological barriers that have created challenges for drug delivery."

In a groundbreaking study published October 11 in Nature Communications, an international team of scientists  have designed a carrier system that delivers medicines to the brain through intravenous injection.