Nanotechnology—novel therapeutics for CNS disorders

Abstract

Research into treatments for diseases of the CNS has made impressive strides in the past few decades, but therapeutic options are limited for many patients with CNS disorders. Nanotechnology has emerged as an exciting and promising new means of treating neurological disease, with the potential to fundamentally change the way we approach CNS-targeted therapeutics. Molecules can be nanoengineered to cross the blood–brain barrier, target specific cell or signalling systems, respond to endogenous stimuli, or act as vehicles for gene delivery, or as a matrix to promote axon elongation and support cell survival. The wide variety of available nanotechnologies allows the selection of a nanoscale material with the characteristics best suited to the therapeutic challenges posed by an individual CNS disorder. In this Review, we describe recent advances in the development of nanotechnology for the treatment of neurological disorders—in particular, neurodegenerative disease and malignant brain tumours—and for the promotion of neuroregeneration.

Magnetoelectric ‘Spin’ on Stimulating the Brain

“…Strikingly, in this comparison between MENs and MNs, the saturation magnetization of MENs was two orders of magnitude smaller than that of MNs; the latter indicates that the effect of the MEN-generated local electric field overshadows the effect of the MN-re-generated local magnetic field. Unlike stimulation with MNs or rTMS, stimulation with MENs did not require a high external magnetic field on the order of 10 4 Oe and instead originated from a significantly enhanced local high electric field only a few nanometers away from the nanoparticles which were exposed to a 100 Oe external magnetic field. Apparently, because there are hundreds of nanoparticles per neuron, the MENs' contribution is adequately strong to trigger the observed significant neural stimulation.…”

“…The signaling in the network is electric-field driven and based on a highly collective system of electric charges, neurotransmitters and action potentials. The ability to remotely incite specific neuronal excitations deep in the brain with the purpose to artificially stimulate selective regions of the network remains an important open question in neural engineering [4]. Furthermore, the ability to control the central nervous system (CNS) at micro-or even nanoscale could provide unprecedented control of specific functions and enable highly personalized 'pin-point' treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, epilepsy and others [5,6].…”

Enhancing the anti-colon cancer activity of quercetin by self-assembled micelles

“…[28][29][30] The rapid development of nanotechnology has provided a significant path for water-soluble preparation of hydrophobic drugs and has attracted a growing attention in drug delivery and cancer treatment. [31][32][33][34][35] Since the biodegradable polymeric micelles are extensively employed in the DDSs, 36,37 many antitumor drugs delivered by this DDS are already in clinical study or marketed. Polymeric micelles are assembled by amphiphilic copolymers to form nanomicelles, where the hydrophobic domains aggregate together (core) to form an effective hydrophobic drug nanoparticle container, and the hydrophilic segments (shell) are the stable interface of self-assembly particles.…”

Nanotechnology platforms in Parkinson’s Disease

“…The relevance to PD lays in the fact that the pathogenesis of PD involves oxidative stress in substantia nigra through production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hydrogen peroxide by extensive oxidative metabolism of dopamine. Neurotrophic factors (like glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)), fullerenes and nanoceria, show neuroprotection in PD [101,102]. The response from direct infusion of GDNF to the putamen had initial success but later could not demonstrate any significant benefits in controlled clinical trials due to development of antibodies and cerebellar degeneration [103].…”