Drug Delivery through the Blood-Brain Barrier through Use of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1- Targeted Nanoparticles

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Date
2013Author
Adnan, Sakib
Borsellino, Regina
He, Alice
Mukherjee, Somdutta
Peng, Victor
Potti, Karthya
Shih, Kelly
Vaitkus, Janina
Wang, Victor
Woo, Rani
Zhang, Robert
Advisor
Aranda-Espinoza, Jose Helim
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Show full item recordAbstract
The blood brain barrier (BBB) is a semi-permeable membrane separating the brain
from the bloodstream, preventing many drugs that treat neurological diseases, such as
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, from reaching the brain. Our project aimed to create a
novel drug delivery system targeting the brain during neural inflammation. We
developed a cationic solid lipid nanoparticle (CSLN) complex composed of cationic
nanoparticles, biotin, streptavidin, and anti-vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (anti-
VCAM-1) antibodies. The anti-VCAM-1 antibody is used to target VCAM-1, a cell
adhesion protein found on the BBB endothelium. VCAM-1 expression is elevated in
the presence of inflammatory molecules, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-
α). Through the use of a simple BBB model, results showed that our novel drug
delivery system experienced some level of success in targeting the brain
inflammation due to increasing TNF-α concentrations. This is promising for drug
delivery research and provides support for VCAM-1 targeting using more robust and
complex BBB models.