A rationally designed polypeptide-based hybrid platform for targeted intranasal brain drug delivery

Intranasal administration represents a safe and non-invasive route for drug delivery to the brain; however, clinical translation remains limited due to anatomical and physiological barriers. We present a modular hybrid biomaterial platform (NanoInBrain) that bypasses the blood-brain barrier via the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Conejos-Sánchez, I., Melnyk, T., Masiá, E., Morelló-Bolumar, D., Tortajada-Comeche, L., Dolz-Pérez, I., Torrijos-Saiz, L.I., Tenhaeff, P., Roosz, J., Moruzzi, A., Sogorb, G., Medel, M., Loskill, P., Roselló, E., Sebastian, V., Florindo, H., Felip-León, C., Nebot, V.J., Herranz-Pérez, V., García-Vedugo, J.M., Vicent, M.J.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Fundación para el Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO)
Repositorio:r-FISABIO. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:r-fisabio___::ee0e9c95511f1a0c42456eb864e48147
Acceso en línea:https://fisabio.portalinvestigacion.com/publicaciones/20797
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105026616628&doi=10.1016%2fj.biomaterials.2025.123867&partnerID=40&md5=f3e4e06eb134a3f8ba1c655322293c59
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Brain targeting
HA-CP
Hyaluronic acid-poly-L-glutamate cross-polymer
Intranasal drug delivery
Mucoadhesive nanocarriers
Nose-to-brain transport
Polypeptide
Administration, Intranasal
Animals
Blood-Brain Barrier
Brain
Drug Delivery Systems
Humans
Hyaluronic Acid
Hydrogels
Mice
Nasal Mucosa
Peptides
Biocompatibility
Controlled drug delivery
Crosslinking
Diffusion
Glycoproteins
Hyaluronic acid
Neurons
Permeation
Physicochemical properties
biomaterial
liposome
nanocarrier
nanoparticle
polymer
polypeptide
hyaluronic acid
hydrogel
peptide
Brain transport
Intranasal
L-glutamate
Mucoadhesive nanocarrier
Mucoadhesives
Nanocarriers
animal experiment
animal model
animal tissue
Article
blood brain barrier
central nervous system
controlled study
drug absorption
drug delivery system
drug release
ex vivo study
histology
Descripción
Sumario:Intranasal administration represents a safe and non-invasive route for drug delivery to the brain; however, clinical translation remains limited due to anatomical and physiological barriers. We present a modular hybrid biomaterial platform (NanoInBrain) that bypasses the blood-brain barrier via the olfactory route and enables central nervous system (CNS) drug delivery. The platform integrates a rationally designed polypeptide-based nanocarrier with a depot-forming hydrogel vehicle - a hyaluronic acid–poly-L-glutamate crosspolymer (HA-CP, Yalic®) - adapted from dermatological applications to enhance nasal mucosal retention and brain uptake. We engineered the nanocarrier system using star-shaped poly-L-glutamate (StPGA) architectures and systematically tuned physicochemical properties to optimize mucosal interaction and CNS diffusion. We introduced mucoadhesive and mucodiffusive functionalities via C-terminal odorranalectin (OL) conjugation, which improved nasal epithelium permeation through receptor-mediated mechanisms. Redox-responsive disulfide crosslinking (StPGA-CL-SS) further enhanced mucosal transport by enabling thiol-mediated anchoring to mucin glycoproteins, outperforming inert click-crosslinked variants. Ex vivo Franz diffusion studies and a nasal-mucosa-on-chip model demonstrated robust permeation, with in vivo imaging confirming brain distribution and intracellular uptake in neurons and microglia. Incorporation of HA-CP prolonged nasal residence (~4 h) and increased total brain accumulation while being well-tolerated. This new platform combines architectural tunability, bioresponsive surface chemistry, and depot-mediated delivery in a scalable, biocompatible nose-to-brain delivery system with potential for treating neurological disorders. © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/