Liposomes (lip) carrying pharmaceuticals have shown promise in their ability to advance the
therapy for
neurodegenerative diseases. However, the low nerve-targeting capacity and poor penetration rate of lip through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are major hurdles to achieving successful treatment. Herein, we developed lip incorporating
cardiolipin (CL) and
phosphatidic acid (PA) to promote their capability against hyperphosphorylation of
tau protein, and a
transactivator of transcription (TAT)
peptide to permeate the BBB for delivering
nerve growth factor (
NGF),
rosmarinic acid (RA),
curcumin (CURC) and
quercetin (QU). We derived an optimization method to assess a better composition of
phospholipids in the lip loaded with the four medicines. Experimental results revealed that this optimized lip increased the viability of SK-N-MC cells insulted with β-
amyloid peptide (Aβ) fibrils and prevented Wistar rat brain from producing hyperphosphorylated tau. CL and PA and the grafted TAT
peptide on the carrier surface improved the rescue efficiency by inhibiting Aβ deposition and reducing the expressions of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated
protein kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal
protein kinase, p38, tau at
serine 202 and
caspase-3. The lip also enhanced the expressions of p-ERK5 and p-cyclic
adenosine monophosphate response element-
binding protein. The amalgamated activity of
NGF, RA, CURC and QU, and the effect of charged CL/PA on Aβ deposits supported the therapeutic efficacy of lip. The optimized TAT-
NGF-RA-CURC-QU-CL/PA-lip can be a capable drug delivery system to cross the BBB and protect
Alzheimer's disease brains from tau hyperphosphorylation. STATEMENTS OF SIGNIFICANCE: The therapeutic efficiency of
liposomes (lip) against
neurodegenerative disorder depends on their nerve-targeting capacity and ability to permeate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Lip was developed incorporating
cardiolipin (CL) and
phosphatidic acid (PA) to promote their target specificity against hyperphosphorylation of
tau protein, and a
transactivator of transcription (TAT)
peptide to permeate the BBB. We have successfully derived an optimization method using a new mathematical expression for the first time to assess a better composition of
phospholipids in lip loaded with
nerve growth factor (
NGF),
rosmarinic acid (RA),
curcumin (CURC) and
quercetin (QU). The optimized TAT-
NGF-RA-CURC-QU-CL/PA-lip efficaciously down-regulated the expressions of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated
protein kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal
protein kinase, p38, tau at
serine 202 and
caspase-3, and up-regulated the expressions of p-ERK5 and p-cyclic
adenosine monophosphate response element-
binding protein in
Alzheimer's disease Wistar rat model.