Nanoengineered on-demand drug delivery system improves efficacy of pharmacotherapy for epilepsy

The dataset was collected during a therapeutic study for epilepsy control at Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and Zhejiang University, and has been processed to produce a manuscript with supplementary information accepted for publication in Science Advances.Long-term pharmacotherapy, serving as the main therapeutic approach for epilepsy prophylaxis, has suffered from limited efficacy and potential side effects, due to blood-brain barrier (BBB) and untimely medication. Here, we reported a nano-engineered drug delivery system for synergistic brain-targeting delivery and on-demand drug release of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). The physical and chemical properties of the delivery system including nanoparticle size, surface charge, monodispersity, conductivity and others were collected. Cellular study including transwell model for BBB penetration was also conducted. The results demonstrated that the dopamine-pyrrole hybrid system can improve delivery efficiency through a combination of receptor-mediated transcytosis and BBB disruption-enabled transport induced by photothermal conversion of near-infrared light. By evaluation of the drug release profiles of the delivery system under various conditions, we concluded that incorporation of polydopamine endowed the delivery system with enhanced conductivity and sensitivity, giving sustained (2 hours) and rapid (30 s) drug release in response to epileptiform discharges. Three animal models including acute, continuous and spontaneous seizure models validated that the delivery system could inhibit seizures upon epileptiform abnormalities, treated by one-fifth of the conventional dosage. Complemented with satisfactory biosafety results, this "smart" modality is promising to be an effective and safe strategy to improve the therapeutic index of AEDs for epilepsy.<br>