Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Despite ongoing medical advances, the development of successful treatments for neurological and neurodegenerative disease remains challenging. This is primarily due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier, a protective interface that reduces exposure of the brain to potential toxins. Unfortunately, this barrier acts as a roadblock for drug delivery, preventing transport of neurotherapeutics across the membrane to their targets within the brain. Numerous approaches have been undertaken to overcome the blood-brain barrier obstacle. Such strategies include: direct injection into the brain, therapeutic ultrasound, cell-penetrating peptides, and nanoparticles. In this review, we discuss the theory behind these approaches, as well as the advantages and limitations of each method.

Keywords: Blood-brain barrier, drug delivery, ultrasound, cell penetrating peptides, protein transduction domain, nanoparticles