Title : Archaeolipid-based drug delivery to penetrate the blood-brain barrier: revisiting brain cancer nanotherapy
Abstract:
As a major challenge in the medical field, drug delivery into the brain presents a serious problem in drug development, due to the repulsion by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Consequently, chemotherapeutic agents cannot penetrate deeply into the brain parenchyma. Crossing BBB is therefore, a significant obstacle in developing new therapeutic strategies for brain cancer. BBB is mainly composed of tight junctions and efflux transporters, such as multiple drug resistance 1 (MDR1). Furthermore, development of anti-cancer therapeutics is a challenging task due to their frequent off-target side effects and the complicated mechanisms of cancer pathogenesis and progression. Currently, strategies for brain cancer treatment are radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy and nanotechnology-based treatment protocols. However, it is difficult to remove all tumor cells, even by surgical removal after a craniotomy. Therefore, innovative and efficacious brain cancer therapeutics are urgently required. Application of available drug delivery strategies, however, is limited by several shortcomings including insufficient transport efficacy, lack of selectivity, and low stability. In order to overcome the selectivity issue, tumor targeting peptides and sequences that can be activated at the target site can be loaded into the structure of archaeolipid vesicles. Studies showed that drug delivery vesicles manufactured using natural and/or synthetic ingredients from archaeobacterial species are superior to other drug carriers due to their exceptional resistance to oxidation, and unique stability at high temperatures and acidic mediums. In this presentation, the benefits and advantages of archaeolipid vesicles for brain cancer therapy will be presented along with green-tech methods for their preparation and targeting strategies.
Audience Take Away:
- A history and fundamentals of nanotherapy will be presented.
- Methods to overcome BBB obstacle for efficient brain cancer nanotherapy.
- Advantages and benefits of using archaeal lipid vesicles for drug delivery.
- Available methods for the preparation of drug delivery systems in comparison with the conventional techniques.
- Drug targeting strategies along with theragnostic drug delivery protocols will be explained.
- The future trends in the field of nanotherapy for the eradication of cancer and viral disease.
