Exploring How Antibody Format Drives Clearance from the Brain.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have high binding specificity and affinity, making them attractive for treating brain diseases. However, their effectiveness is limited by poor blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration and rapid central nervous system (CNS) clearance. Our group identified blood-brain barrier modulator (BBBM) peptides that improved mAb penetration across the BBB into the brain.

Encephalic meningioangiomatosis in a cat.

Meningioangiomatosis (MA) is a rare proliferative meningovascular entity that has been described mainly in humans and dogs. Here we describe MA in a 13-y-old spayed female domestic shorthaired cat that died 5 d after acute change in behavior, open-mouth breathing, seizures, hyperthermia, and inability to walk. On MRI, the lesion appeared predominantly as extraparenchymal hemorrhage.

Doxorubicin-loaded iron oxide nanoparticles for glioblastoma therapy: a combinational approach for enhanced delivery of nanoparticles.

Although doxorubicin (DOX) is an effective anti-cancer drug with cytotoxicity in a variety of different tumors, its effectiveness in treating glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is constrained by insufficient penetration across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In this study, biocompatible magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) stabilized with trimethoxysilylpropyl-ethylenediamine triacetic acid (EDT) were developed as a carrier of DOX for GBM chemotherapy. The DOX-loaded EDT-IONPs (DOX-EDT-IONPs) released DOX within 4 days with the capability of an accelerated release in acidic microenvironments.

Non-invasive Brain Delivery and Efficacy of BDNF in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice as a Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Neurotrophic factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) have been demonstrated for their potential as a neuroregenerative treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Unfortunately, most proteins cannot be effectively delivered into the brain from the blood stream due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In this study, we delivered BDNF using ADTC5 as BBB modulator (BBBM) into the brains of transgenic APP/PS1 mice, a mouse model for AD.

Noninvasive Brain Delivery and Efficacy of BDNF to Stimulate Neuroregeneration and Suppression of Disease Relapse in EAE Mice.

The number of FDA-approved protein drugs (biologics), such as antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, hormones, and enzymes, continues to grow at a rapid rate; most of these drugs are used to treat diseases of the peripheral body. Unfortunately, most of these biologics cannot be used to treat brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and brain tumors in a noninvasive manner due to their inability to permeate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Therefore, there is a need to develop an effective method to deliver protein drugs into the brain.