Liposome-based Strategies to Mitigate Ischemic Stroke-induced Neurodegeneration

Stroke is an acute cerebral injury that often causes widespread, irreversible neurodegeneration. In addition to the immediate injury, neural death can continue for a prolonged period due to a number of pathological secondary injury mechanisms, including excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. The lack of efficacious therapies targeting these pathways can be largely attributed, in part, to the challenge of delivering therapeutic compounds across the bloodbrain-barrier (BBB). Recent studies demonstrating accumulation of liposomes in the central nervous system after Stroke highlight an opportunity to deliver neuroprotectants across the BBB. Here, we review approaches to deliver liposome-bound therapies that can ameliorate each of the aforementioned secondary injury pathways.