Synthetic polymeric nanoparticles for immunomodulation

Abstract

Synthetic polymeric nanoparticles have gained tremendous attention since the beginning of this century. Their tunable size, shape, and surface properties make them effi cient carriers and delivery systems for a vast cohort of drugs into the body, including peptides, proteins, lipid, and nucleic acids. Also, because of their unique and tunable biochemical properties, polymeric nanoparticles are able to modulate immune responses in vivo, either by themselves as adjuvant, or by presenting antigens and/or co-stimulatory/inhibitory signals to the immune system. Therefore, intensive efforts are being devoted to investigating and applying synthetic polymeric nanoparticles in vaccine development and immunotherapy for cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders. In this book chapter, we fi rst introduce the main targets of particulate systems for immunomodulation, then talk about the factors that infl uence their function and performance in immunotherapy and lastly discuss the strategies that are currently in use or under investigation to treat immune diseases using synthetic polymeric nanoparticles.