Biomaterials-Based Immunomodulation of Dendritic Cells

Abstract

Modulation of the immune system through the use of biomaterials provides opportunities for new applications in the field of regenerative medicine to be translated into clinical settings. Particularly, biomaterials-based immunomodulation targeting dendritic cells has gained much interest in recent years. Dendritic cells are professional antigen-presenting cells serving as the bridge between innate and adaptive immunity, and they capture, process, and present antigen to naive T cells to further dictate immune response outcomes. Current biomaterials-based technologies targeting dendritic cells have focused on inducing either inflammatory or suppressive phenotypes through the use of particulates or scaffolds, the modulation of material properties, and the delivery of proteins, nucleic acids, and small drug molecules. This chapter provides relevant immunology concepts, an overview of dendritic cells and their functions, and highlights exciting new biomaterials-based techniques employed for use in cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases, and transplant rejection.