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How Do You Get Drugs to the Brain? Maybe Try a Parasite
A common parasite could one day deliver drugs to the brain. Here's how scientists are turning Toxoplasma gondii from foe into friend.
A new study published in Nature Microbiology has pioneered the use of a single-cell parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, to inject therapeutic proteins into brain cells. The blood-brain barrier is a layer of cells lining the brain’s blood vessels that acts like a gatekeeper to block germs and other unwanted substances from gaining access to neurons. Once inside neurons, the parasite releases a suite of proteins that alter gene expression in its host, which may be a factor in the behavioral changes it causes in infected animals and people.
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