Abstract
The immune system contributes to maintaining the body’s functional integrity through its two main functions: recognizing and destroying foreign external agents (invading microorganisms) and identifying and eliminating senescent cells and damaged or abnormal endogenous entities (such as cellular debris or misfolded/degraded proteins). Accordingly, the immune system can detect molecular and cellular structures with a spatial resolution of a few nm, which allows for detecting molecular patterns expressed in a great variety of pathogens, including viral and bacterial proteins and bacterial nucleic acid sequences. Such patterns are also expressed in abnormal cells. In this context, it is expected that nanostructured materials in the size range of proteins, protein aggregates, and viruses with different molecular coatings can engage in a sophisticated interaction with the immune system. Nanoparticles can be recognized or passed undetected by the immune system. Once detected, they can be tolerated or induce defensive (inflammatory) or anti-inflammatory responses. This paper describes the different modes of interaction between nanoparticles, especially inorganic nanoparticles, and the immune system, especially the innate immune system. This perspective should help to propose a set of selection rules for nanosafety-by-design and medical nanoparticle design.
Highlights
The immune system of higher vertebrates encompasses a collection of different specialized cells and specialized soluble molecules distributed throughout the body, being present in all organs and tissues, circulating in blood and lymph, and concentrated in some lymphoid organs
While this metabolic defense mechanism is an ability of all eukaryotic cells, it is reasonable to imagine that, through evolution, some cells adapted the unbalanced energy equation to becoming professional defensive cells forming a whole discontinued system distributed across the body and responsible for the maintenance, defense, and repair of our biological tissues
With a proper NP design, these responses can be harnessed for developing different immunomodan inflammatory allowing for resolution of inflammation tissue regeneration or an ulating activities for medicalresponse exploitation (e.g., self-adjuvanted vaccines based onand virus-like particles (VLPs), or outer
Summary
The immune system of higher vertebrates encompasses a collection of different specialized cells and specialized soluble molecules distributed throughout the body, being present in all organs and tissues, circulating in blood and lymph (to reach every corner of the body in case of need), and concentrated in some lymphoid organs (lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, where hematopoiesis takes place in adult life). Inflammation provokes the unbalance between endogenous production of free radicals and antioxidant defenses, resulting in oxidative stress [9] While this metabolic defense mechanism is an ability of all eukaryotic cells, it is reasonable to imagine that, through evolution, some cells adapted the unbalanced energy equation to becoming professional defensive cells forming a whole discontinued system distributed across the body and responsible for the maintenance, defense, and repair of our biological tissues. In normal conditions, these cells have a patrolling role based on scanning and surveying tissues to eliminate senescent or damaged cells and become aggressive when encountering some possible dangers, capable of initiating, developing, and controlling inflammation.
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