Using nanotechnology to design potential therapies for CNS regeneration

Abstract

The nanodelivery of therapeutics into the brain will require a step-change in thinking; overcoming the blood brain barrier is one of the major challenges to any neural therapy. The promise of nanotechnology is that the selective delivery of therapeutics can be delivered through to the brain without causing secondary damage. There are several formidable barriers that must be overcome in order to achieve axonal regeneration after injury in the CNS. The development of new biological materials, in particular biologically compatible scaffolds that can serve as permissive substrates for cell growth, differentiation and biological function is a key area for advancing medical technology. This review focuses on four areas: First, the barriers of delivering therapies to the central nervous system and how nanotechnology can potentially solve them; second, current research in neuro nanomedicine featuring brain repair, brain imaging, nanomachines, protein misfolding diseases, nanosurgery, implanted devices and nanotechnologies for crossing the blood brain barrier, third, health and safety issues and fourth, the future of neuro nanomedicine as it relates to the pharmaceutical industry. © 2007 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.