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Published on: June 28, 2014
Prodrugs and their activation mechanisms for brain drug delivery
Ida Aaberg Lillethorup1, Andreas Victor Hemmingsen1, Katrine Qvortrup1
1Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark 2800 Kongens Lyngby Denmark kaqvo@kemi.dtu.dk.
Abstract:
Prodrugs are masked drugs that first become pharmacologically active after undergoing a structural change in vivo. They are designed to improve physicochemical/biopharmaceutical drug properties and increase site specificity. The prodrug approach is important when developing brain-targeting drugs due to the presence of the brain barriers that seriously limit the brain entry of highly polar, multifunctional drug entities. While several excellent reviews summarize the structural modifications facilitating transport across the brain barriers, a summary of mechanisms used for the activation of the prodrug in the brain is missing. Given the high need for innovative discoveries in brain drug development, we here review the most important tools being developed since 2000 for CNS prodrug activation.
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