Kim Jaeyun, Mooney David J
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Nano Today. 2011 Oct;6(5):466-477. doi: 10.1016/j.nantod.2011.08.005.
Therapeutic cancer vaccines are emerging as novel and potent approaches to treat cancer. These vaccines enhance the body's immune response to cancerous cells, and dendritic cells (DCs), an initiator of adaptive immunity, are a key cell type targeted by these strategies. Current DC-based cancer vaccines are based on ex vivo manipulation of the cells following their isolation from the patient, followed by reintroduction to the patient, but this approach has many limitations in practical cancer treatment. However, recent progress in materials science has allowed the design and fabrication of physically and chemically functionalized materials platforms that can specifically target DCs in the body. These materials, through their in vivo modulation of DCs, have tremendous potentials as new cancer therapies. Nanoparticles, which are several orders of magnitude smaller than DCs, can efficiently deliver antigen and danger signals to these cells through passive or active targeting. Three-dimensional biomaterials, with sizes several orders of magnitude larger than DCs, create microenvironments that allow the effective recruitment and programming of these cells, and can be used as local depots of nanoparticles targeting resident DCs. Both material strategies have shown potential in promoting antigen-specific T cell responses of magnitudes relevant to treating cancer.
治疗性癌症疫苗正在成为治疗癌症的新型有效方法。这些疫苗可增强机体对癌细胞的免疫反应，而作为适应性免疫启动者的树突状细胞（DCs）是这些策略所靶向的关键细胞类型。当前基于DC的癌症疫苗是在从患者体内分离出细胞后对其进行体外操作，然后再重新引入患者体内，但这种方法在实际癌症治疗中有许多局限性。然而，材料科学的最新进展使得能够设计和制造出可在体内特异性靶向DCs的物理和化学功能化材料平台。这些材料通过对DCs进行体内调节，作为新型癌症治疗方法具有巨大潜力。纳米颗粒比DCs小几个数量级，可通过被动或主动靶向有效地将抗原和危险信号传递给这些细胞。三维生物材料的尺寸比DCs大几个数量级，可创造允许有效募集和调控这些细胞的微环境，并可作为靶向驻留DCs的纳米颗粒的局部储存库。这两种材料策略在促进与癌症治疗相关的抗原特异性T细胞反应方面均已显示出潜力。
