Lowering The Brain’s Drawbridge - Chemical &$1Engineering News

By activating a biochemical signaling pathway, researchers have toppled the barrier that regulates molecules’ entry into the brain (J. Neurosci., DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3337-11.2011). The find could lead to more effective drug delivery options for Alzheimer’s disease or brain tumors.
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Antibodies nearly always get turned away at the brain’s proverbial castle gate, says Quentin R. Smith, a blood-brain barrier expert at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. With Bynoe’s technique, “you could open the gate and let the barbarians flood in, and then close the gate to trap them inside,” he says.

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