Authors: Francesca Persano, Svetlana Batasheva, Gölnur Fakhrullina, Giuseppe Gigli, Stefano Leporatti and Rawil Fakhrullin

Featured on the cover of J. Mater. Chem. B, 28 March 2021, Issue 12, Page 2749 to 2938
Review Article
DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1039/D0TB02957B

Abstract: Inorganic materials, in particular nanoclays and silica nanoparticles, have attracted enormous attention due to their versatile and tuneable properties, making them ideal candidates for a wide range of biomedical applications, such as drug delivery. This review aims at overviewing recent developments of inorganic nanoparticles (like porous or mesoporous silica particles) and different nano-clay materials (like montmorillonite, laponites or halloysite nanotubes) employed for overcoming the blood brain barrier (BBB) in the treatment and therapy of major brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, glioma or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Recent strategies of crossing the BBB through invasive and not invasive administration routes by using different types of nanoparticles compared to nano-clays and inorganic particles are overviewed.