Bioinspired Approaches for Central Nervous System Targeted Gene Delivery

Abstract

Disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) which include a wide range of neurodegenerative and neurological conditions have become a serious global issue. The presence of CNS barriers poses a significant challenge to the progress of designing effective therapeutic delivery systems, limiting the effectiveness of drugs, genes, and other therapeutic agents. Natural nanocarriers present in biological systems have inspired researchers to design unique delivery systems through biomimicry. As natural resource derived delivery systems are more biocompatible, current research has been focused on the development of delivery systems inspired by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and mammalian cells. Despite their structural potential and extensive physiological function, making them an excellent choice for biomaterial engineering, the delivery of nucleic acids remains challenging due to their instability in biological systems. Similarly, the efficient delivery of genetic material within the tissues of interest remains a hurdle due to a lack of selectivity and targeting ability. Considering that gene therapies are the holy grail for intervention in diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's Disease, and Huntington's disease, this review centers around recent advances in bioinspired approaches to gene delivery for the prevention of CNS disorders.

Amyloid detection in neurodegenerative diseases using MOFs

“…136 This approach holds tremendous promise in various applications, especially in the field of amyloid-related diseases, by offering a sensitive, rapid, and continuous monitoring system for early detection and disease progression assessment. 137 Xu et al in 2019 introduced an approach harnessing MOFs as versatile materials by leveraging Tb 3+ as a luminescence core, 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate (BTC) as a foundational building block, and Cu 2+ as both a signal modulator and recognition unit. This innovative design led to the development of a sophisticated lanthanide functionalized MOF (LMOF)-based fluorescent sensor (Cu-BTC/Tb) for detecting amyloid b-peptide (Ab) (Fig.…”