The use of Pep: Trans vectors for the delivery of drugs into the central nervous system

Despite major advances in neuroscience, many potential therapeutic agents are denied access to the central nervous system because of the existence of the blood-brain barrier. The current challenge is to develop strategies that will allow the transport of therapeutic drugs into the brain in a safe and effective manner. During the last decade, several cell-penetrating peptides have been described, such as SynB vectors, penetratin and Tat that allow the intracellular delivery of polar, biologically active compounds. These small peptides possess multiple positive charges and have the ability to interact with lipid membrane and to adopt a significant secondary structure upon binding to lipids. An even more difficult task for these peptides is to deliver hydrophilic molecules across the blood-brain barrier. SynB vectors have been successfully applied to brain delivery of various drugs including anticancer agents such as doxorubicin, antibiotics and other molecules such as drug-like peptide dalargin across the BBB. In this review article, we review the evidence that SynB vectors and some other vectors can be used both to deliver therapeutic compounds to the brain and to treat models of disease such as pain.