Recently, the team of Jianping Zhou/Yang Ding/Huaqing Zhang from the School of Pharmacy of our university published a new research result entitled Biomimetic elasticity compressed assembly controls rapid intracerebral drug release to reverse microglial dysfunction. Prof. Jianping Zhou, Prof. Yang Ding and Associate Researcher Huaqing Zhang of the School of Pharmacy are the co-corresponding authors of the paper, PhD student and postdoctoral fellow of the class of 2020, Mr. Guochen Han, and PhD student of the class of 2021, Mr. Yi Jin are the co-first authors, and the Chinese University of Pharmacy is the first corresponding author of the paper.
Modulating microglia dysfunction using concentrated drug delivery strategies has significant therapeutic benefits for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the blood-brain barrier is the biggest obstacle to intracerebral drug delivery. To address the above scientific issues, this study proposes a biomimetic elastic compression drug delivery system to achieve focal and efficient concentrated delivery of insoluble drugs in response to intracerebral reactive oxygen species (ROS). We designed and synthesized a temperature-sensitive deformation polymer as the substrate, temperature-controlled high-volume compression loaded with curcumin (Cur) and ligand-grafted with ultra-small cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂), followed by the combination of dopamine self-polymerization and apo-protein modification to enhance the stability of the drug delivery system and the intracerebral delivery activity. After the drug delivery system reaches the lesion, it reverses microglia dysfunction and promotes Aβ endocytosis degradation, exerts neuron protection function, and eliminates ROS, which provides a new idea and a new solution for AD treatment.
The team has long been committed to research on the mechanism of multidimensional prevention and treatment of AD by bionic particulate agents. It has published papers and results in PNAS, Nat Commun, Sci Adv, and other journals, obtained 5 relevant invention patents, and is looking forward to more research collaborations and translations.
The above work has been funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Double First Class of China Pharmaceutical University, the Special Fund for Basic Scientific Research of the Central Universities, and national and provincial talent programs.
Original link: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr0656
Schematic diagram of drug delivery system assembly and AD treatment mechanism
