Nanoparticles for Brain Drug Delivery

In an era wherein nanotechnology has sparked a huge research interest, brain drug delivery is not an exception. Aiming at fighting several central nervous system (CNS) conditions, tailored nanoparticles open new avenues to address several challenges in the fields of drug delivery and brain targeting. This book gathers contributions from experts in different, complementary fields, having in common their interest in developing new strategies for brain delivery based on nanotechnologies. The book encompasses general aspects pertaining to fundamental development, including tripartite in silico–in vitro–in vivo approaches. It also covers a diversity of nanomedicines applied in treatment and/or diagnosis and monitoring of CNS disorders. Aspects concerning their translation from the bench to clinical practice are also seamlessly discussed. This book will inspire readers to discover possible approaches to holistically delivering drugs into the brain. Edited by Carla Vitorino, Andreia Jorge and Alberto Pais, this book will appeal to anyone involved in nanomedicine, pharmaceutics, neurological and cancer therapies, drug delivery research and computational and regulatory sciences.

Part 1: Fundamentals 1. Recent Trends in Nanotechnology for Brain Delivery: A Brief Outlook Carla Vitorino, Andreia Jorge and Alberto Pais 2. Understanding Brain Delivery Joana Bicker, Ana Fortuna, Gilberto Alves and Amílcar Falcão 3. Novel Routes to Accessing the Brain: Intranasal Administration Ana Serralheiro, Joana Bicker, Gilberto Alves, Amílcar Falcão and Ana Fortuna Part 2: Nanomedicines 4. Organic Nanocarriers for Brain Drug Delivery Marlene Lúcio, Carla M. Lopes, Eduarda Fernandes, Hugo Gonçalves and Maria Elisabete C. D. Real 5. Magnetic and Plasmonic Nanoparticles for Brain Drug Delivery Ana Luísa Daniel-da-Silva 6. Hybrid Nanosystems Pablo Vicente Torres-Ortega, Laura Saludas, Jon Eneko Idoyaga, Carlos Rodríguez-Nogales, Elisa Garbayo and María José Blanco-Prieto 7. Drug Nanocrystals M. Ermelinda S. Eusébio, Ricardo A. E. Castro andJoão Canotilho 8. Lipid Nanocarriers for Oligonucleotide Delivery to the Brain Andreia F. Jorge, Santiago Grijalvo, Alberto A. C. C. Pais and Ramón Eritja 9. Carriers for Nucleic Acid Delivery to the Brain Sören Reinhard and Ernst Wagner 10. Advances in Nanotheranostics with Plasmonic and Magnetic Nanoparticles Sérgio R. S. Veloso, Paula M. T. Ferreira, J. A. Martins, Paulo J. G. Coutinho and Elisabete M. S. Castanheira Part 3: Development and Translation 11. Quality by Design for Nanocarriers Branca M. A. Silva and Cláudia Silva 12. Recent in vitro Models for the Blood–Brain Barrier João Basso, Maria Mendes, Maria Ferreira, João Sousa, Alberto Pais and Carla Vitorino 13. Current in vivo Models for Brain Disorders Marta Guerra-Rebollo and Cristina Garrido 14. Modeling and Simulation of Nanosystems for Delivering Drugs to the Brain Tânia Cova and Sandra Nunes 15. Translational Challenges Bárbara Rocha, Nelson Pacheco Rocha and Bruno Gago

Carla Vitorino is invited assistant professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra, Portugal (2014–present). She graduated in pharmaceutical sciences in 2007 and obtained her PhD in pharmaceutics in 2013 from the University of Coimbra. She has been working on the application of nanotechnology in drug permeation enhancement strategies for transdermal, oral and drug delivery systems for brain targeting and has published several scientific papers in peer-reviewed, high-impact journals, bringing together her vast experience in pharmaceutical technology, especially in the areas of nanotechnology and regulatory science. Her main research interests are nanotechnology, controlled release and the development of new drug delivery systems with a quality-by-design perspective. Andreia Jorge is research doctorate at the University of Coimbra. She obtained her PhD in macromolecular chemistry in 2013 from the University of Coimbra. During her PhD, she also worked at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, and the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Ludwig–Maximilians, Germany. She then moved to a postdoctoral fellow position in a joint project with the Coimbra Chemistry Centre and the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia, Spain, where she conducted research on the chemical modification of oligonucleotides with therapeutic applications, using both experimental and computational approaches. Her current research activities are in the fields of chemical-modified therapeutic oligonucleotides (antisense and siRNA) for gene silencing, antiproliferative oligonucleotides, sequence-specific protein–DNA interactions, lipid- and polymer-based drug delivery systems and programmable self-assembling DNA nanostructures. Alberto A. C. C. Pais is full professor of chemistry and head of the Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra. He is also head of the Macromolecular, Colloids and Photochemistry Group, Coimbra Chemical Center (in collaboration with the Multicomponent Systems lab, a part of that group). He has published 14 book chapters, 2 books and 200 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. His scientific interests are vast and include chemometrics, pharmaceutical technology, molecular modeling/simulation and data science.