A new Northwestern Medicine study has uncovered key molecular design principles that could help supramolecular therapeutics cross the blood-brain barrier, a major challenge for this novel approach to treating neurological disorders.

Published in ACS Nano, the study examined how subtle changes in the structure of molecules called peptide amphiphiles affect their ability to move through brain endothelial cells and traverse the blood-brain barrier.

The findings provide a roadmap for developing new therapies capable of reaching the brain, including potential treatments for stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.