Non-viral liposome-mediated transfer of brain-derived neurotrophic factor across the blood-brain barrier

• Main Authors: Ying Xing, Chun-yan Wen, Song-tao Li, Zong-xin Xia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2016-01-01
• Series: Neural Regeneration Research
• Subjects: nerve regeneration; brain injury; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; liposomes; targeting; vector; transfection; hippocampus; cortex; encapsulation efficiency; blood-brain barrier; transferrin; glial fibrillary acidic protein; polyethylene glycol; neural regeneration
• Online Access: http://www.nrronline.org/article.asp?issn=1673-5374;year=2016;volume=11;issue=4;spage=617;epage=622;aulast=Xing

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.