The Route of Nanomaterials Entering Brain

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) provides a stable and safe environment for physiological function of the central nervous system (CNS) as a protective barrier. However, the existence of the BBB also became a great obstacle for the treatment of CNS diseases such as brain tumor, Alzheimer disease, and Parkinson disease as it prevents most therapeutic agents from entering the brain. The development of nanotechnology and materials provides alternative methods to enhance the BBB penetration capacity. Drug-loaded nanoparticles or nanomaterials can penetrate across the BBB through a series of nutrient transporters or specific receptors expressed on the brain capillary endothelial cells, through adsorptive-mediated transcytosis or circumvent the BBB through other pathways. In this chapter the main routes for nano-based drug delivery systems and their corresponding mechanisms are described separately.