Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
10:01
Modeling Brain Metastasis by Internal Carotid Artery Injection of Cancer Cells
Published on: August 2, 2022
Nanoparticles Navigating the Blood-Brain Barrier for Neurodegenerative Therapy
Xinming Zhao1, Liming Sun1, Xiaoman Zhang1
1Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, 116011, People's Republic of China.
International Journal of Nanomedicine
|July 28, 2026
Summary
Nanoparticles (NPs) can bypass the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat neurological diseases like Alzheimer's. However, challenges in NP platform comparison, toxicity, and predictive models hinder clinical translation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biotechnology
- Drug Delivery
Background:
- The blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts over 98% of small-molecule drugs and nearly all biologics from entering the brain.
- Nanoparticles (NPs) offer potential strategies to overcome BBB limitations for treating neurological disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the potential of NPs in crossing the BBB and treating neurodegenerative diseases.
- To identify current challenges and suggest future research directions for NP-based therapies.
Main Methods:
- Review of preclinical studies on NP applications for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases.
- Analysis of NP delivery mechanisms including receptor-mediated transcytosis, adsorptive-mediated transport, and intranasal delivery.
- Evaluation of NP-mediated disease pathway modifications, such as amyloid-β clearance and neuroinflammation reprogramming.
Main Results:
- Preclinical studies demonstrate promising NP efficacy in models of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases.
- NPs show potential for disease modification by promoting amyloid-β clearance, reducing tau phosphorylation, and reprogramming neuroimmune responses.
Conclusions:
- Despite promising preclinical results, no NP-based therapy has advanced beyond early clinical trials.
- Key challenges include a lack of standardized NP characterization, poorly understood long-term brain toxicity, and limitations of animal models.
- Future research should focus on standardized characterization, improved predictive models, diverse clinical trial designs, and rigorous comparisons with existing treatments.
