Project Description

Non-invasive delivery of small molecular weight drugs including peptides to brain parenchyma is highly possible through the endogenous natural communication vector (exosome) with its receptor-mediated transcytosis mechanism. The strategy of using exosomes as a biomimetic tool is advantageous in delivering Neurotherapeutics and imaging agents, in terms of safety and selectivity towards neurodegenerative disease therapy The goal of this proposal is to investigate the mucoadhesive property and the transcytosis potential of microglial exosomes and its biomimetic nanoconstruct for its non-invasive application in brain delivery, via the Nose-to-Brain strategy towards Alzheimer therapy. The central hypothesis is to engineer the biomimetic nanoconstruct using activated Microglial exosome membrane (Microglial-BNc) with its receptor proteins in a combinatorial approach along with biocompatible polymers loaded with therapeutic peptide inhibitor for the non-invasive brain delivery. As an outcome of the study, brain parenchymal tissue targeted peptide delivery platform can be developed to lead the future investigation on treating other central nervous system disorders.