Tech Session VII: Delivery to the Nervous System II
Empowering the Blood-Brain Barrier: VCAM Targeted Nanocarriers in Neuroinflammatory Diseases.
Friday, July 18, 2025
8:04 AM – 8:29 AM EDT
Introduction: Vascular cellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM)-targeted nanocarriers (T-NCs) offer a novel approach to brain drug delivery, focusing on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) itself rather than crossing it. By targeting the BBB's extensive surface area (15m²) and 600 km of vessels, T-NCs transform it into a drug depot or biofactory for proteins through mRNA delivery. This strategy enhances drug delivery and therapeutic efficacy in acute neurovascular inflammatory conditions like stroke. T-NCs address the challenge of treating neurological disorders by restoring the BBB damaged during inflammatory insults
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants will know
Demonstrate 20-fold higher uptake of VCAM T-NCs in inflamed neurovasculature vs. untargeted NCs.
Reduce cerebral infarct volume by 60% using VCAM T-NCs delivering mRNA/IL-10 in stroke models.
Visualize whole-brain vascular gene editing via VCAM T-NC-delivered Cre-recombinase using CLARITY
