Immunobioengineering approaches towards combinatorial delivery of immune-modulators and antigens

Abstract

Vaccines have been one of the most important discoveries of modern medicine. They are the primary mode of protection against a wide range of infectious diseases and, if effective, can provide long-lasting immunity. Despite recent advances in our understanding of the immune system, prophylactic vaccines against chronic infectious diseases and immunotherapeutic vaccines against cancer remain elusive. Unlike preventive vaccines that have virtually eradicated fatal diseases like polio and smallpox, immunotherapy of chronic diseases and established or unexpected infections, for example human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has yet to demonstrate global clinical success. Even for diseases where preventive vaccines are available, for example influenza, the protection is transient and requires multiple administration and yearly immunizations. In addition, most cancers and emerging infectious diseases, like the H1N1 influenza, and drug resistance infections like tuberculosis, need new transformative strategies to increase protective immunity many folds over currently available vaccines. Successful immunotherapy using vaccines requires effective strategies to penetrate tissue barriers, efficiently target antigens, adjuvants and immune-modulators to immune surveillance cells, provide strong stimulatory effects to activate those cells, and modulate the cellular response appropriately and efficiently in order to generate potent antiviral or anticancer immunity. The emerging field of immunobioengineering provides new concepts and strategies to design materials, antigens, and adjuvants to induce potent immune response; and engineer vaccine delivery systems to modulate the behavior of immune cells [1]. In this chapter we review the state-of-the-art approaches in immunobioengineering with specific focus on delivery formulations for multiple immune-modulators and antigens.