Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026
08:58
A Benchtop Approach to the Location Specific Blood Brain Barrier Opening using Focused Ultrasound in a Rat Model
Published on: June 13, 2020
Targeting the brain: advances in drug delivery
James P Blumling Iii1, Gabriel A Silva
1UCSD Jacobs Retina Center, 9415 Campus Point Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037-0946, USA. gsilva@ucsd.edu
Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
|September 29, 2012
Summary
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) hinders brain drug delivery. Novel strategies like focused ultrasound, cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), and molecular trojan horses (MTHs) offer promising non-invasive or targeted delivery solutions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- The blood-brain barrier (BBB) poses a major challenge for delivering therapeutics to the brain.
- Many potentially life-saving drugs for neurological conditions cannot be administered intravenously due to the BBB.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and discuss innovative strategies for overcoming the BBB for enhanced drug delivery.
- To explore alternatives to direct drug modification for brain penetration.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing and emerging drug delivery techniques bypassing or circumventing the BBB.
- Discussion of localized delivery methods (implants, injections) and their risks.
- Evaluation of non-invasive methods like focused ultrasound.
- Analysis of molecular delivery systems: cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) and molecular trojan horses (MTHs).
Main Results:
- Localized delivery via implants and injections are current standards but carry surgical risks.
- Focused ultrasound offers a non-invasive option for localized treatment, potentially for brain tumors.
- CPPs facilitate BBB traversal but lack brain specificity.
- MTHs use receptor-mediated transcytosis for selective BBB delivery, showing promise in gene therapy.
Conclusions:
- Non-invasive and targeted delivery systems are crucial for effective brain drug delivery.
- CPPs and MTHs represent advanced molecular tools for brain therapeutics.
- Future brain drug delivery may involve combining targeting molecules with CPPs or utilizing MTHs for selective transport.
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