title: Nanoparticles for brain-specific drug and genetic material delivery, imaging and diagnosis.
abstract: The poor access of therapeutic drugs and genetic material into the central nervous system due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier often limits the development of effective noninvasive treatments and diagnoses of neurological disorders. Moreover, the delivery of genetic material into neuronal cells remains a challenge because of the intrinsic difficulty in transfecting this cell type. Nanotechnology has arisen as a promising tool to provide solutions for this problem. This review will cover the different approaches that have been developed to deliver drugs and genetic material efficiently to the central nervous system as well as the main nanomaterials used to image the central nervous system and diagnose its disorders.
authors.affiliation: Unidad Asociada Neurodeath, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain.|CIBERNED, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Posadas
authors.affiliation: Unidad Asociada Neurodeath, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain.|CIBERNED, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monteagudo
authors.affiliation: Unidad Asociada Neurodeath, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain.|CIBERNED, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Valentín
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ceña
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers
keywords: blood–brain barrier; brain; drug delivery; imaging; nanoparticles; siRNA