Emerging Nanotechnology for Treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

The prevalence of the two most common neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), are expected to rise alongside the progressive aging of society. Both PD and AD are classified as proteinopathies with misfolded proteins α-synuclein, amyloid-β, and tau. Emerging evidence suggests that these misfolded aggregates are prion-like proteins that induce pathological cell-to-cell spreading, which is a major driver in pathogenesis. Additional factors that can further affect pathology spreading include oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, inflammation, and cell death. Nanomaterials present advantages over traditional chemical or biological therapeutic approaches at targeting these specific mechanisms. They can have intrinsic properties that lead to a decrease in oxidative stress or an ability to bind and disaggregate fibrils. Additionally, nanomaterials enhance transportation across the blood-brain barrier, are easily functionalized, increase drug half-lives, protect cargo from immune detection, and provide a physical structure that can support cell growth. This review highlights emergent nanomaterials with these advantages that target oxidative stress, the fibrillization process, inflammation, and aid in regenerative medicine for both PD and AD.

Advanced nanomaterials for modulating Alzheimer's related amyloid aggregation

“…Moreover, the photothermal effect of AuNCs can also serve as an effective means to dissolve Ab amyloid deposits. Zhang et al 168 reported one type of Cys-Arg (CR) dipeptide modied Au nanocluster (Au 23 (CR) 14 ) that was able to effectively dissolve pre-formed Ab brils into monomers and recover the natural unfolded state of Ab peptides from misfolded b-sheets (Fig. 9C).…”

“…[10][11][12] Among them, nanomaterials have great advantages in influencing amyloid fibril nucleation, disintegrating matured amyloid fibril, and targeting amyloid plaques via crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). [10,[13][14][15][16] At the same time, nanomaterials have ability to responsive to light, sound, heat, electricity, and magnetism because of the physical properties of some nanomaterials, and they have also been gradually developed and applied in the research of neurodegenerative diseases. [10,[17][18][19][20][21] Nanomaterials can be classified into one-dimensional, two-dimensional, zerodimensional, and other nanomaterials according to their dimensions.…”

Nanozymes for Regenerative Medicine

“…[ 35a,133 ] According to the previous reports, in neurodegenerative diseases, the similar pathological mechanisms of both AD and PD as described are misfolding and aggregation of proteins, and the elevated production of ROS leading to a cascade of oxidative stress and cell death. [ 134 ] Moreover, the excessive production of ROS is also a key mechanism to cause brain damage after ischemic strokes. These excessive ROS have been considered to mediate most of the damages following ischemia/reperfusion injury.…”

Applications of Various Types of Nanomaterials for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders

“…The case of lipoic acid, a chemical naturally present in the mitochondria with substantial anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capabilities capable of reducing oxidative stress, exemplifies the potential of NPS to improve the efficacy of AD therapy [87]. They are designed in such a way that they are harmless, biodegradable, and target-specific [88]. In the context of treating Alzheimer's disease, these nano systems could effectively retain and distribute medicines and other neuroprotective chemicals to the brain [89].…”