A Bioinspired Platform for Effective Delivery of Protein Therapeutics to the Central Nervous System
Abstract
Central nervous system (CNS) diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality; their treatment, however, remains constrained by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that impedes the access of most therapeutics to the brain. A CNS delivery platform for protein therapeutics, which is achieved by encapsulating the proteins within nanocapsules that contain choline and acetylcholine analogues, is reported herein. Mediated by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and choline transporters, such nanocapsules can effectively penetrate the BBB and deliver the therapeutics to the CNS, as demonstrated in mice and non-human primates. This universal platform, in general, enables the delivery of any protein therapeutics of interest to the brain, opening a new avenue for the treatment of CNS diseases.
References
Crystal structure of an ACh-binding protein reveals the ligand-binding domain of nicotinic receptors
Citations
Established and Emerging Strategies for Drug Delivery Across the Blood-Brain Barrier in Brain Cancer
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