Summary:The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is formed by the brain capillary endothelium and excludes from the brain ϳ100% of large-molecule neurotherapeutics and more than 98% of all small-molecule drugs. Despite the importance of the BBB to the neurotherapeutics mission, the BBB receives insufficient attention in either academic neuroscience or industry programs. The combination of so little effort in developing solutions to the BBB problem, and the minimal BBB transport of the majority of all potential CNS drugs, leads predictably to the present situation in neurotherapeutics, which is that there are few effective treatments for the majority of CNS disorders. This situation can be reversed by an accelerated effort to develop a knowledge base in the fundamental transport properties of the BBB, and the molecular and cellular biology of the brain capillary endothelium. This provides the platform for CNS drug delivery programs, which should be developed in parallel with traditional CNS drug discovery efforts in the molecular neurosciences.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) prevents the brain uptake of most pharmaceuticals. This property arises from the epithelial-like tight junctions within the brain capillary endothelium. The BBB is anatomically and functionally distinct from the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier at the choroid plexus. Certain small molecule drugs may cross the BBB via lipid-mediated free diffusion, providing the drug has a molecular weight <400 Da and forms <8 hydrogen bonds. These chemical properties are lacking in the majority of small molecule drugs, and all large molecule drugs. Nevertheless, drugs can be reengineered for BBB transport, based on the knowledge of the endogenous transport systems within the BBB. Small molecule drugs can be synthesized that access carrier-mediated transport (CMT) systems within the BBB. Large molecule drugs can be reengineered with molecular Trojan horse delivery systems to access receptor-mediated transport (RMT) systems within the BBB. Peptide and antisense radiopharmaceuticals are made brain-penetrating with the combined use of RMT-based delivery systems and avidin-biotin technology. Knowledge on the endogenous CMT and RMT systems expressed at the BBB enable new solutions to the problem of BBB drug transport.

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As human longevity increases, the likelihood of the onset of diseases of the brain (and other organs) also increases. Clinical therapeutics offer useful long-term treatments, if not cures, if drugs can be delivered appropriately and effectively. Unfortunately, research in drug transport to the brain has not advanced very far. Through better characterization of the transport systems utilized within the blood-brain barrier, a greater understanding of how to exploit these systems will lead to effective treatments for brain disorders. Pardridge reviews the functions of the various known transport systems in the brain and discusses how the development of BBB drug-targeting programs in pharmaceutical and academic settings may lead to more efficacious treatments.

Immunoliposomes (antibody-directed liposomes) were used in the present study for delivery of the antineoplastic agent daunomycin to the rat brain.