Logo image
Towards programming immune tolerance through geometric manipulation of phosphatidylserine
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Towards programming immune tolerance through geometric manipulation of phosphatidylserine

Reid A Roberts, Timothy K Eitas, James D Byrne, Brandon M Johnson, Patrick J Short, Karen P McKinnon, Shannon Reisdorf, J.Christopher Luft, Joseph M DeSimone and Jenny P Ting
Biomaterials, Vol.72, pp.1-10
12/2015
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2015.08.040
PMCID: PMC4852957
PMID: 26325217

View Online

Abstract

The possibility of engineering the immune system in a targeted fashion using biomaterials such as nanoparticles has made considerable headway in recent years. However, little is known as to how modulating the spatial presentation of a ligand augments downstream immune responses. In this report we show that geometric manipulation of phosphatidylserine (PS) through fabrication on rod-shaped PLGA nanoparticles robustly dampens inflammatory responses from innate immune cells while promoting T regulatory cell abundance by impeding effector T cell expansion. This response depends on the geometry of PS presentation as both PS liposomes and 1 micron cylindrical PS-PLGA particles are less potent signal inducers than 80 × 320 nm rod-shaped PS-PLGA particles for an equivalent dose of PS. We show that this immune tolerizing effect can be co-opted for therapeutic benefit in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis and an assay of organ rejection using a mixed lymphocyte reaction with primary human immune cells. These data provide evidence that geometric manipulation of a ligand via biomaterials may enable more efficient and tunable programming of cellular signaling networks for therapeutic benefit in a variety of disease states, including autoimmunity and organ rejection, and thus should be an active area of further research. [Display omitted] •Geometric manipulation of a cell surface ligand can be used to modulate signaling output.•Nanorod PS programs anti-inflammatory responses in dendritic cells and prevents effector T cell activation.•Nanorod PS prevents disease in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.•Nanorod PS prevents alloactivation of human T cells.
Autoimmunity Immunoengineering Immunomodulation Nanoparticles Phosphatidylserine PLGA PRINT Tolerance Transplantation

Details

Logo image