Measurement of Phosphorothioate Oligodeoxynucleotide Antisense Transport Across the BloodBrain Barrier

Phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides (PODNs) can act as antisense molecules, knocking down proteins. Many PODNs have the unusual characteristic of being transported across the blood–brain barrier by a saturable system. This means that PODNs injected intravenously can accumulate in the central nervous system in quantities sufficient to knock down proteins in brain and the blood–brain barrier. A critical step in the development of PODNs that can be administered peripherally and knockdown proteins in the central nervous system is to determine the relation to the blood–brain barrier, specifically, does the PODN cross the blood–brain barrier and, if so, how fast and to what degree.