Development of cell-based DDS to overcome biological barriers for treating brain diseases

Abstract

The in vivo fate and therapeutic efficacy of injected drugs and nanoparticles are greatly affected by the presence of biological carriers, such as the blood-brain barrier and tumor microenvironment. To overcome these obstacles for targeted drug delivery, the application of the function of circulating cells, such as homing ability to inflammation sites by responding to biological cues, has garnered considerable attention. Specifically, the use of cells as drug delivery carriers, the modification of synthetic nanoparticles with cell membrane/membrane proteins, and the application of extracellular vesicles released by the cells have been reported. This review introduces recent progress in cell-based DDS for treating central nervous system diseases and the usefulness of developing DDS using circulating cells, particularly neutrophils. Additionally, we will also present our recent findings on the development of a cell engineering system to apply neutrophils for cancer immunotherapy against malignant brain tumors.