Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), affect the ageing population worldwide and while severely impairing the quality of life of millions, they also cause a massive economic burden to countries with progressively ageing populations. Parallel with the search for biomarkers for early detection and prediction, the pursuit for therapeutic approaches has become growingly intensive in recent years. Various prospective therapeutic approaches have been explored with an emphasis on early prevention and protection, including, but not limited to, gene therapy, stem cell therapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy. Many pharmacological interventions have proved to be promising novel avenues, but successful applications are often hampered by the poor delivery of the therapeutics across the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). To overcome this challenge, nanoparticle (NP)-mediated drug delivery has been considered as a promising option, as NP-based drug delivery systems can be functionalized to target specific cell surface receptors and to achieve controlled and long-term release of therapeutics to the target tissue. The usefulness of NPs for loading and delivering of drugs has been extensively studied in the context of NDDs, and their biological efficacy has been demonstrated in numerous preclinical animal models. Efforts have also been made towards the development of NPs which can be used for targeting the BBB and various cell types in the brain. The main focus of this review is to briefly discuss the advantages of functionalized NPs as promising theranostic agents for the diagnosis and therapy of NDDs. We also summarize the results of diverse studies that specifically investigated the usage of different NPs for the treatment of NDDs, with a specific emphasis on AD and PD, and the associated pathophysiological changes. Finally, we offer perspectives on the existing challenges of using NPs as theranostic agents and possible futuristic approaches to improve them.
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December 2020
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Cover Image
The cover image of this issue of Emerging Topics in Life Sciences: Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Medicine, shows a cancerous human lung in the back and a gold nanoparticle in the front. It represents the main objective of the review by Guinart et al.; to give insight into the role that gold nanoparticles can have in the management of lung cancer.
Review Article|
December 15 2020
Nanotheranostic agents for neurodegenerative diseases
Parasuraman Padmanabhan
;
1Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 636921
Correspondence: Balázs Gulyás (balazs.gulyas@ntu.edu.sg) or Parasuraman Padmanabhan (ppadmanabhan@ntu.edu.sg)
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Mathangi Palanivel;
Mathangi Palanivel
1Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 636921
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Ajay Kumar;
Ajay Kumar
2Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
3Department of Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
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Domokos Máthé;
Domokos Máthé
4Hungarian Center of Excellence for Molecular Medicine, In Vivo Imaging Advanced Core Facility, Budapest 1094, Hungary
5Semmelweis University Department of Biophysics and Radiation Biology, Budapest 1094, Hungary
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George K. Radda;
George K. Radda
6Emeritus Fellow, Merton College, University of Oxford, Merton Street, Oxford, OX1 4JD, U.K.
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Kah-Leong Lim;
Kah-Leong Lim
1Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 636921
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Balázs Gulyás
1Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 636921
Correspondence: Balázs Gulyás (balazs.gulyas@ntu.edu.sg) or Parasuraman Padmanabhan (ppadmanabhan@ntu.edu.sg)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
September 01 2020
Revision Received:
November 16 2020
Accepted:
November 19 2020
Online ISSN: 2397-8562
Print ISSN: 2397-8554
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology
2020
Emerg Top Life Sci (2020) 4 (6): 645–675.
Article history
Received:
September 01 2020
Revision Received:
November 16 2020
Accepted:
November 19 2020
Citation
Parasuraman Padmanabhan, Mathangi Palanivel, Ajay Kumar, Domokos Máthé, George K. Radda, Kah-Leong Lim, Balázs Gulyás; Nanotheranostic agents for neurodegenerative diseases. Emerg Top Life Sci 17 December 2020; 4 (6): 645–675. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20190141
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