The Contribution of Nanotechnologies to Neuroscience

The purpose of nanotechnology is to construct functional capabilities at these extremely small dimensions that are not present in nanotechnology's fundamental molecular building blocks.

FREMONT, CA: There are two broad categories of approaches to nanotechnology and nanoengineering research in the brain and neuroscience: 'platform nanotechnologies,' which can be adapted and used to conduct experiments that address a wide range of neuroscience questions, and 'tailored nanotechnologies,' which are specifically designed to address a specific problem or challenge in the field.

Platform nanotechnologies are known as material or device platforms for neuronal applications with newly developed physical and chemical features. Tailored nanotechnologies are developed in response to a well-defined biological or clinical problem. Considerable effort has been spent developing novel nanomaterials capable of building blocks for such applications.

For systems as complex as the nervous system, a tailored approach often leads to highly-specialized technologies that are designed to interact with their target systems in sophisticated and well-defined ways, such as a specific cell type in a specific type of brain, and are thus better suited to address a specific problem than a generic platform.

However, because tailored nanotechnologies are extremely specialized, their application to other brain areas or other diseases may be limited or require additional development before being used.

Clinically, nanotechnology for neurological illnesses can greatly contribute to the development of novel ways for treating traumatic and degenerative disorders and tumors that are clinically challenging to manage. The clinical difficulties imposed by the brain and nervous system and the difficulties encountered by anything meant to target and interface with them largely result from the brain's and nervous system's unique structure and physiology. The brain, in particular, is extremely computationally and physiologically complex, with extremely restricted anatomical access.

Consider the requirements for a typical medicine being developed to treat a neurological condition. The medicine is initially administered systemically, orally, or via injection into the bloodstream. It must cross the blood-brain barrier, a functionally protective barrier that surrounds the brain while causing the fewest possible systemic adverse effects. It must then cross the blood-brain barrier successfully and with little disruption to avoid impairing the brain's normal physiology—or worsening an existing neurological disorder. Once through the barrier, it must target its intended cells selectively, for example, a certain subtype of neuron in a specific region of the brain. Then and only then will it be able to perform its primary active clinical function, whatever that may be. It could be changing the activity of an enzyme, synthesizing a new protein, or inhibiting or boosting a certain class of cell receptors. However, it cannot accomplish this if it cannot reach its designated cells safely, in sufficient quantity, and without generating adverse side effects along the road. Anyone in medicine is unlikely to accomplish all of this on its own.

The primary therapeutic agent is simply one part of a larger system that includes the other components outlined above. However, when the medicine is combined with a nanoengineered molecular carrier, they become well adapted to tackling these issues, as they may be created to fulfill several roles in unison. For instance, including 'biomimetic' principles into the design of nanoparticles enables the efficient delivery of medications to the brain additional criteria for transporting the medication to its target cells in this nanoengineered carrier.

 Indeed, the prevalence of nanotechnology in neurology has grown to such an extent that there are now large-scale coordinated research initiatives in which the role and contribution of nanotechnology and nanoengineering are not a novelty but a necessary inherent component of the effort.

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