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Ischemic stroke is one of the major causes of death or long-term disabilities worldwide; thus, prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and stroke-related brain damage, being still largely unresolved problems of contemporary medicine, require new technologies for diagnostics and therapeutics. One of the major limitations to current neurodegenerative disease treatment is an inefficient delivery of neuroprotective drugs to the affected part of the brain due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that is permeable only by small, lipophilic molecules. Additionally, some of the orally delivered neuroprotective drugs may influence the whole organism, thus causing peripheral toxicity and numerous adverse reactions. Therefore, despite the progress in understanding molecular mechanisms of neuronal injury and preventing them, only few neuroprotective substances are used in the clinic and their efficiency in the treatment of stroke and neurodegenerations is still not satisfactory. The main project objective is to develop the new strategy of delivery of selected neuroprotectants by theranostic nanocarriers that can cross the blood-brain barrier without imposing side effects on its normal function. We will concentrate on developing methodology of encapsulation of neuroprotectants and fluorescent or MRI contrast agents in nanocarriers with the size below 150 nm and surfaces functionalized for targeted delivery. Immunosupressant drugs such as cyclosporine A (CsA) and FK506 are neuroprotective in animal models of brain ischemia. CsA inhibits the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, thereby maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis following brain ischemia by inhibiting calcium influx and preserving mitochondrial membrane potential. However, high systemic doses of these drugs result in undesired effects and toxicity.