[The blood-brain barrier and neurodegenerative lysosomal storage diseases].

Enzyme replacement therapy has been a very effective treatment for several lysosomal storage diseases. However, correcting central nervous system (CNS) storage has been challenging due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which hampers the entry of circulating lysosomal enzymes into the brain. In our previous studies, we discovered that luminally expressed cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate (M6P) receptor is a universal transporter for lysosomal enzymes that contain M6P moieties on the enzyme molecule. This receptor-mediated transport of lysosomal enzymes showed developmental down-regulation that resulted in a failure of delivery of lysosomal enzymes across the BBB in the adult brain. Conceptually, if one can re-induce M6P receptor-mediated transport of lysosomal enzymes in adult BBB, this could provide a novel brain targeting approach for treating abnormal storage in the CNS, regardless of the age of subjects. We found that systemic adrenergic stimuli restored functional transport of β-glucuronidase across the adult BBB. The concept of manipulating BBB transport activity by endogenous characteristics has also been demonstrated by another group who showed effective treatment in a Pompe disease model animal in vivo. It is intriguing that lysosomal enzymes utilize multiple mechanisms for their transport across the BBB. This review explores pharmacological manipulations for the delivery of lysosomal enzymes into the CNS, and the mechanisms of their transport across the BBB, based on existing evidence from studies of β-glucuronidase, sulfamidase, acid α-glucosidase, and arylsulfatase A.