title: Non-viral liposome-mediated transfer of brain-derived neurotrophic factor across the blood-brain barrier.
abstract: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in the repair of central nervous system injury, but cannot directly traverse the blood-brain barrier. Liposomes are a new type of non-viral vector, able to carry macromolecules across the blood-brain barrier and into the brain. Here, we investigate whether BDNF could be transported across the blood-brain barrier by tail-vein injection of liposomes conjugated to transferrin (Tf) and polyethylene glycol (PEG), and carrying BDNF modified with cytomegalovirus promoter (pCMV) or glial fibrillary acidic protein promoter (pGFAP) (Tf-pCMV-BDNF-PEG and Tf-pGFAP-BDNF-PEG, respectively). Both liposomes were able to traverse the blood-brain barrier, and BDNF was mainly expressed in the cerebral cortex. BDNF expression in the cerebral cortex was higher in the Tf-pGFAP-BDNF-PEG group than in the Tf-pCMV-BDNF-PEG group. This study demonstrates the successful construction of a non-virus targeted liposome, Tf-pGFAP-BDNF-PEG, which crosses the blood-brain barrier and is distributed in the cerebral cortex. Our work provides an experimental basis for BDNF-related targeted drug delivery in the brain.
authors.affiliation: China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Yan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Song-Tao
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China; Central Hospital of Baishan City, Baishan, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Zong-Xin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8286-7238
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Xia
keywords: blood-brain barrier; brain injury; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; cortex; encapsulation efficiency; glial fibrillary acidic protein; hippocampus; liposomes; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; polyethylene glycol; targeting; transfection; transferrin; vector