Multicompartment Lipid Nanocarriers for Targeting of Cells Expressing Brain Receptors - Self-Assembled Supramolecular Architectures: Lyotropic Liquid Crystals - page 319

Figure 11.1 Crystallographic structure of a dimer formed by the neurotrophins BDNF
and NT3 (PDB code: 1BND).

β sheets of the neurotrophins (Fig. 11.1) consist of highly conserved residues,

which are important for maintaining their tertiary structure. The amino acid
sequences of the N- and C-terminal regions and of the variable loops play a
functional role in binding and activation of the brain receptor TrkB. The
peptide BDNF (Fig. 11.1) displays a net positive charge and therefore can be
effi ciently entrapped in anionic lipid carriers.

11.2.2 Current Problems in Peptide Delivery with Lipid
Nanocarriers—Nanosystems Obtained from Polar Lipids
Hydrated in Aqueous Medium

Bioactive peptides, issued by advanced biotechnologies or biochemical syn-
thesis, are of increasing interest for therapeutic applications. However, the use