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The AAV binds to the human transferrin receptor, which is highly expressed in the blood-brain barrier in humans.

Such receptors could be targets for ‘Trojan horse’ drug delivery8, in which proteins are engineered to bind to specific transmembrane receptors that can cross the BBB, such as the transferrin receptor.

To move iron atoms from one cell to another, we seal them inside a kind of molecular lockbox, called transferrin.

Crucially, the antibody binds more tightly to BACE1 than to transferrin, and this pulls it off the blood vessel and into the brain.

The subterfuge involves the transferrin receptor, a docking site used  to transport iron into the brain.