- Version
- Download 13
- File Size 602.02 KB
- File Count 1
- Create Date October 27, 2024
- Last Updated October 27, 2024
Abstract_Sergej Tomic
Modulation of the innate and adaptive immune response is a key therapeutic approach for targeting most severe diseases, such as malignant diseases, autoimmune diseases, and infections. The existence of numerous mechanisms regulating the immune response often complicates the precise control of the host response, which may lead to developing side effects. Key immune cells at the crossroads of innate and adaptive immunity are dendritic cells (DCs), which tightly control inflammation and immune tolerance. The application of autologous immune cells educated in vitro, such as DCs, although promising, can be extremely expensive, and its effectiveness is often variable due to the complex protocols and variable conditions for cell therapy production. Nanomaterials could overcome numerous problems in immunotherapy. They possess a large surface area available for conjugation, allowing the binding and delivery of various combinations of biomolecules and antigens to the target tissues and cells. The production of nanomaterials is becoming increasingly cheaper, and the knowledge we gained is growing exponentially, both in terms of their physicochemical properties and their biocompatibility. Numerous studies, including our own on gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, graphene quantum dots, cellulose nanofibers, nanocrystals, polymers, etc., have shown that nanomaterials can display intrinsic immunomodulatory properties, which depend on their source, shape, size, degradability, etc. Moreover, nanomaterials can trigger different signaling mechanisms, thus inducing different effects in DCs and the subsequent immune response. Combining the nanomaterials and their properties opens up numerous possibilities in immunotherapy, including the possibility for “precise education” of DCs in vivo, both in a temporally and spatially controlled manner. However, for the clinical application of nanomaterials, it is first necessary to resolve their safety and the mechanisms of interaction with the immune system. Here we argue that DCs present an excellent model for these kind of studies, enabling the rational designing of the nanomaterials suitable for novel immunotherapeutic approaches.
Keywords: Nanomaterials, Dendritic cells, Immune response, Immunotherapy, Biocompatibility