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Halloysite Nanotube Vehicles for Drug Delivery Through a Model Blood–Brain Barrier
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
Abstract
Epilepsy treatment requires anti-seizure medical formulations; available medications have various painful side effects and penetrate the brain–blood barrier poorly. A promising method is the use of natural clay nanocontainers for drug delivery through this membrane barrier. Halloysites (Hly) are biocompatible, 50-nm diameter tubes with a positively charged, hollow inner lumen and negatively charged outer shell and are available naturally. These characteristics enable them to be versatile as drug loaded ‘nano-torpedoes’ effectively penetrating cell membranes. The endothelial cells are a major cell type in the blood–brain barrier that provides for the selective permeability separating the circulating blood and allowing only the passage of glucose, water, and amino acids, but not traditional drug formulations. Nanotubes encapsulating rhodamine isothiocyanate and ionomycin penetration through the rat-brain microvascular endothelial cells followed by a prolonged 24-h drug release was demonstrated. A model membrane was set up across 0.4-μm-pore polystyrene transwell supports covered by seeding endothelial and astrocyte cells to mimic the blood–brain barrier in vivo. This barrier demonstrated a dual permeation mechanism (inter-cell accumulation and through-passing) for loaded Hlys, exploiting the potential of this nanoclay in the trans-membrane delivery of drugs. Use of Hly nanotubes as drug carriers to penetrate the brain microvascular endothelial barrier and to deliver the payload displayed a new approach for the treatment of brain diseases such as epilepsy.
- Type
- Article
- Information
- Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 69 , Issue 5: Clay Minerals in Health Applications , October 2021 , pp. 603 - 611
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Clay Minerals Society 2022
Footnotes
This paper belongs to a special issue on ‘Clay Minerals in Health Applications’
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