Polymer- and Lipid-Based Nanostructured Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of CNS Diseases: Recent Advances towards Clinical Application, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

The Central Nervous System (CNS) is the most complex organ of the human body and, consequently, remarkable challenges must be tackled in the therapeutic treatment of neurological disorders, the most relevant being the crossing of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). At present, the treatment of CNS diseases is mainly symptomatic and there are no disease-modifying therapies for most of these disorders. In this context, it appears necessary not only to create more effective drugs but also to improve their corresponding delivery systems, particularly when complex drugs, including genes, antibodies, peptides, and proteins, as well as neurotrophic factors and stem cells for regenerative therapy, are to be administered. For this last purpose, in the last few decades, several nanostructured biomaterials have been identified as tools for the preparation of advanced drug delivery systems that could potentially be useful for treating neurological disorders. The main advantages of using such nanostructured biomaterials in the neurological field are the satisfactory overcoming of the BBB and their biocompatibility. Current research in this area is focused on slowing down disease progression to achieve the important goal of improving the quality of life of patients.

For this Special Issue, in particular, we call to researchers involved in brain targeting, overcoming the BBB both by invasive (e.g., brain implants, BBB transient opening etc.), and non-invasive methods (prodrugs, intranasal administration route (i.e., nose-to-brain delivery) etc.) using different materials such as polymers and lipids from natural and renewable resources to participate. These raw materials can be used as such or in physical mixtures to provide advanced nanostructured drug delivery systems (DDS), including polymeric nanoparticles, micelles, hydrogels, and lipid nanocarriers (liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers). Moreover, such nanostructured DDSs can be appropriately functionalized with suitable molecules to provide particular properties such as brain targeting or stability in biological fluids. A relevant application of such functionalized nanostructured DDSs is in the treatment of the most aggressive brain tumours, which are characterized by an unfavourable prognosis. The mentioned materials can be also used as scaffolds for the transplantation of stem cells (neural, pluripotent, or mesenchymal) to induce and promote the regeneration of damaged neuronal cells in neurodegenerative diseases by secreting growth factors and the exosomes derived thereof.

For this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews on the status, challenges, and recent advances in polymer- and lipid-based nanostructured formulations used for the treatment of neurological disorders are welcome, as well as scientific papers on the diagnostic applications of these nanosized DDSs.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Trapani
Prof. Dr. Massimo Conese
Guest Editors

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• neurodegenerative diseases
• neurological diseases
• brain tumors
• brain targeting
• nose-to-brain delivery
• polymers from natural and renewable resources
• polymer/lipid nanoparticles
• neurotrophic factors
• stem cells
• exosomes