Rafts, Nanoparticles and Neural Disease

Abstract

This review examines the role of membrane rafts in neural disease as a rationale for drug targeting utilizing lipid-based nanoparticles. The article begins with an overview of methodological issues involving the existence, sizes, and lifetimes of rafts, and then examines raft function in the etiologies of three major neural diseases—epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease—selected as promising candidates for raft-based therapeutics. Raft-targeting drug delivery systems involving liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles are then examined in detail.

Keywords

• rafts
• nanoparticles
• nanomedicine
• neural disease
• epilepsy
• Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease
• liposomes
• solid lipid nanoparticles