Researchers have discovered the process by which dietary choline crosses the blood-brain barrier. This breakthrough has potential applications in enhancing drug delivery to the brain for treating neurological disorders.
A researcher from the University of Queensland has identified molecular doorways that could facilitate the delivery of drugs to the brain for treating neurological disorders.
Dr. Rosemary Cater from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience led a team that discovered that an essential nutrient called choline is transported into the brain by a protein called FLVCR2.
“Choline is a vitamin-like nutrient that is essential for many important functions in the body, particularly for brain development,” Dr Cater said. “We need to consume 400-500 mg of choline per day to support cell regeneration, gene expression regulation, and for sending signals between neurons.”
Dr. Cater said that until now, little was known about how dietary choline travels past the layer of specialized cells that separates the blood from the brain.
Blood-Brain Barrier and Nutrient Transport
“This blood-brain barrier prevents molecules in the blood that are toxic to the brain from entering,” she said. “The brain still needs to absorb nutrients from the blood, so the barrier contains specialized cellular machines – called transporters – that allow specific nutrients such as glucose, omega-3 fatty acids, and choline to enter. While this barrier is an important line of defense, it presents a challenge for designing drugs to treat neurological disorders.”
Dr Cater was able to show that choline sits in a cavity of FLVCR2 as it travels across the blood-brain barrier and is kept in place by a cage of protein residues.
“We used high-powered cryo-electron microscopes to see exactly how choline binds to FLVCR2,” she said.
“This is critical information for understanding how to design drugs that mimic choline so that they can be transported by FLVCR2 to reach their site of action within the brain.
“These findings will inform the future design of drugs for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and stroke.”
The research also highlights the importance of eating choline-rich foods – such as eggs, vegetables, meat, nuts, and beans.
Reference: “Structural and molecular basis of choline uptake into the brain by FLVCR2” by Rosemary J. Cater, Dibyanti Mukherjee, Eva Gil-Iturbe, Satchal K. Erramilli, Ting Chen, Katie Koo, Nicolás Santander, Andrew Reckers, Brian Kloss, Tomasz Gawda, Brendon C. Choy, Zhening Zhang, Aditya Katewa, Amara Larpthaveesarp, Eric J. Huang, Scott W. J. Mooney, Oliver B. Clarke, Sook Wah Yee, Kathleen M. Giacomini, Anthony A. Kossiakoff, Matthias Quick, Thomas Arnold and Filippo Mancia, 31 April 2024, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07326-y
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
News
Oxford study reveals how COVID-19 vaccines prevent severe illness
A landmark study by scientists at the University of Oxford, has unveiled crucial insights into the way that COVID-19 vaccines mitigate severe illness in those who have been vaccinated. Despite the global success of [...]
Annual blood test could detect cancer earlier and save lives
A single blood test, designed to pick up chemical signals indicative of the presence of many different types of cancer, could potentially thwart progression to advanced disease while the malignancy is still at an early [...]
How the FDA opens the door to risky chemicals in America’s food supply
Lining the shelves of American supermarkets are food products with chemicals linked to health concerns. To a great extent, the FDA allows food companies to determine for themselves whether their ingredients and additives are [...]
Superbug crisis could get worse, killing nearly 40 million people by 2050
The number of lives lost around the world due to infections that are resistant to the medications intended to treat them could increase nearly 70% by 2050, a new study projects, further showing the [...]
How Can Nanomaterials Be Programmed for Different Applications?
Nanomaterials are no longer just small—they are becoming smart. Across fields like medicine, electronics, energy, and materials science, researchers are now programming nanomaterials to behave in intentional, responsive ways. These advanced materials are designed [...]
Microplastics Are Invading Our Arteries, and It Could Be Increasing Your Risk of Stroke
Higher levels of micronanoplastics were found in carotid artery plaque, especially in people with stroke symptoms, suggesting a potential new risk factor. People with plaque buildup in the arteries of their neck have been [...]
Gene-editing therapy shows early success in fighting advanced gastrointestinal cancers
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have completed a first-in-human clinical trial testing a CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique to help the immune system fight advanced gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. The results, recently published in The Lancet Oncology, show encouraging [...]
Engineered extracellular vesicles facilitate delivery of advanced medicines
Graphic abstract of the development of VEDIC and VFIC systems for high efficiency intracellular protein delivery in vitro and in vivo. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59377-y. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59377-y Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a technique [...]
Brain-computer interface allows paralyzed users to customize their sense of touch
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists are one step closer to developing a brain-computer interface, or BCI, that allows people with tetraplegia to restore their lost sense of touch. While exploring a digitally [...]
Scientists Flip a Gut Virus “Kill Switch” – Expose a Hidden Threat in Antibiotic Treatment
Scientists have long known that bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, live in our gut, but exactly what they do has remained elusive. Researchers developed a clever mouse model that can temporarily eliminate these phages [...]
Enhanced Antibacterial Polylactic Acid-Curcumin Nanofibers for Wound Dressing
Background Wound healing is a complex physiological process that can be compromised by infection and impaired tissue regeneration. Conventional dressings, typically made from natural fibers such as cotton or linen, offer limited functionality. Nanofiber [...]
Global Nanomaterial Regulation: A Country-by-Country Comparison
Nanomaterials are materials with at least one dimension smaller than 100 nanometres (about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair). Because of their tiny size, they have unique properties that can be useful in [...]
Pandemic Potential: Scientists Discover 3 Hotspots of Deadly Emerging Disease in the US
Virginia Tech researchers discovered six new rodent carriers of hantavirus and identified U.S. hotspots, highlighting the virus’s adaptability and the impact of climate and ecology on its spread. Hantavirus recently drew public attention following reports [...]
Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers
Researchers have estimated approximately 8% of Americas have ever experienced long COVID, or lasting symptoms, following an acute COVID-19 infection. Now two recent international studies suggest that the percentage is much higher among healthcare workers [...]
Melting Arctic Ice May Unleash Ancient Deadly Diseases, Scientists Warn
Melting Arctic ice increases human and animal interactions, raising the risk of infectious disease spread. Researchers urge early intervention and surveillance. Climate change is opening new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases such [...]
Scientists May Have Found a Secret Weapon To Stop Pancreatic Cancer Before It Starts
Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have found that blocking the FGFR2 and EGFR genes can stop early-stage pancreatic cancer from progressing, offering a promising path toward prevention. Pancreatic cancer is expected to become [...]
