Recent Advances in Nanotherapeutics for Neurological Disorders

Abstract

Neurological disorders remain a significant health and economic burden worldwide. Addressing the challenges imposed by existing drugs, associated side- effects, and immune responses in neurodegenerative diseases is essential for developing better therapies. The immune activation in a diseased state has complex treatment protocols and results in hurdles for clinical translation. There is an immense need for the development of multifunctional nanotherapeutics with various properties to address the different limitations and immune interactions exhibited by the existing therapeutics. Nanotechnology has proven its potential to improve therapeutic delivery and enhance efficacy. Promising advancements have been made in developing nanotherapies that can be combined with CRISPR/Cas9 or siRNA for a targeted approach with unique potential for clinical translation. Engineering natural exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), dendritic cells (DCs), or macrophages to both deliver therapeutics and modulate the immune responses to tumors or in neurodegenerative disease (ND) can allow for targeted personalized therapeutic approaches. In the present review, we summarize and overview the recent advances in nanotherapeutics in addressing the existing treatment limitations and neuroimmune interactions for developing ND therapies and provide insights into the upcoming advancements in nanotechnology-based nanocarriers.

Keywords: Immune interactions; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology; Nanotherapeutics; Neurological disorders.

Figure 1

Hybrid magneto-plasmonic liposomes for multimodal image-guided and brain-targeted HIV treatment. Reproduced with permission from ref (20). Copyright 2018 Royal Society of Chemistry.

Figure 2

Schematic representation of functionalizing porous silicon nanoparticles (pSiNPs) with undecylenic acid and immobilizing antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) on undecylenic acid functionalized silicon nanoparticles (A). Assembly of the microfluidic chip-based device for demonstrating BBB penetrating capability (B). Testing BBB penetration ability and biodistribution in glioblastoma xenograft mouse model (C). Reproduced with permissions from ref (22). Copyright 2023 American Chemical Society.

Figure 3

Dendrimer conjugated siRNA to target tumor-associated macrophage mouse model and penetration of the dendrimer–siRNA nanocarrier across the BBB. Reproduced with permissions from ref (24). Copyright 2022 American Chemical Society.

Figure 4

Schematic representation of immobilizing oligosaccharides onto magnetic particles and targeted therapeutic applications. Reproduced from ref (32) under Creative Commons CC-BY License. Published 2020 Elsevier.

Figure 5

Classification of exosome drug loading methods. Reproduced from ref (44). Published 2023 by American Chemical Society under CC BY 4.0 license.

Figure 6

Nose-to-brain delivery of insulin enhanced by a nanogel carrier. Reprinted from ref (52), Copyright 2018, with permission from Elsevier.