title: Rafts, Nanoparticles and Neural Disease.
abstract: This review examines the role of membrane rafts in neural disease as a rationale for drug targeting utilizing lipid-based nanoparticles. The article begins with an overview of methodological issues involving the existence, sizes, and lifetimes of rafts, and then examines raft function in the etiologies of three major neural diseases-epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease-selected as promising candidates for raft-based therapeutics. Raft-targeting drug delivery systems involving liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles are then examined in detail.
authors.affiliation: Ross University School of Medicine, Miami Beach Community Health Center, 11645 Biscayne Boulevard, North Miami, FL 33181, USA. vgulati@knights.ucf.edu.
authors.forename: Vishal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gulati
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA. ronald.wallace@ucf.edu.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wallace
keywords: Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease; epilepsy; liposomes; nanomedicine; nanoparticles; neural disease; rafts; solid lipid nanoparticles