Nanoparticles' properties modify cell type-dependent distribution in immune cells

Metabolomics-directed nanotechnology in viral diseases management: COVID-19 a case study

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently regarded as the twenty-first century's plague accounting for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Besides its reported symptoms affecting the respiratory tract, it was found to alter several metabolic pathways inside the body. Nanoparticles proved to combat viral infections including COVID-19 to demonstrate great success in developing vaccines based on mRNA technology. However, various types of nanoparticles can affect the host metabolome. Considering the increasing proportion of nano-based vaccines, this review compiles and analyses how COVID-19 and nanoparticles affect lipids, amino acids, and carbohydrates metabolism. A search was conducted on PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science for available information on the interrelationship between metabolomics and immunity in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the effect of nanoparticles on metabolite levels. It was clear that SARS-CoV-2 disrupted several pathways to ensure a sufficient supply of its building blocks to facilitate its replication. Such information can help in developing treatment strategies against viral infections and COVID-19 based on interventions that overcome these metabolic changes. Furthermore, it showed that even drug-free nanoparticles can exert an influence on biological systems as evidenced by metabolomics.

The interplay between PEGylated nanoparticles and blood immune system

During the last two decades, an increasing number of reports have pointed out that the immunogenicity of polyethylene glycol (PEG) may trigger accelerated blood clearance (ABC) and hypersensitivity reaction (HSR) to PEGylated nanoparticles, which could make PEG modification counterproductive. These phenomena would be detrimental to the efficacy of the load and even life-threatening to patients. Consequently, further elucidation of the interplay between PEGylated nanoparticles and the blood immune system will be beneficial to developing and applying related formulations. Many groups have worked to unveil the relevance of structural factors, dosing schedule, and other factors to the ABC phenomenon and hypersensitivity reaction. Interestingly, the results of some reports seem to be difficult to interpret or contradict with other reports. In this review, we summarize the physiological mechanisms of PEG-specific immune response. Moreover, we speculate on the potential relationship between the induction phase and the effectuation phase to explain the divergent results in published reports. In addition, the role of nanoparticle-associated factors is discussed based on the classification of the action phase. This review may help researchers to develop PEGylated nanoparticles to avoid unfavorable immune responses based on the underlying mechanism.

Assessment of joint pharmacokinetics and consequences for the intraarticular delivery of biologics

Intraarticular (IA) injections provide the opportunity to deliver biologics directly to their site of action for a local and efficient treatment of osteoarthritis. However, the synovial joint is a challenging site of administration since the drug is rapidly eliminated across the synovial membrane and has limited distribution into cartilage, resulting in unsatisfactory therapeutic efficacy. In order to rationally develop appropriate drug delivery systems, it is essential to thoroughly understand the unique biopharmaceutical environments and kinetics in the joint to adequately simulate them in relevant experimental models. This review presents a detailed view on articular kinetics and drug-tissue interplay of IA administered drugs and summarizes how these can be translated into reasonable formulation strategies by identification of key factors through which the joint residence time can be prolonged and specific structures can be targeted. In this way, pros and cons of the delivery approaches for biologics will be evaluated and the extent to which biorelevant models are applicable to gain mechanistic insights and ameliorate formulation design is discussed.

Immunotherapeutic nanoparticles: From autoimmune disease control to the development of vaccines

The development of nanoparticles (NPs) with potential therapeutic uses represents an area of vast interest in the scientific community during the last years. Recently, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 motivated a race for vaccines creation to overcome the crisis generated. This is a good demonstration that nanotechnology will most likely be the basis of future immunotherapy. Moreover, the number of publications based on nanosystems has significantly increased in recent years and it is expected that most of these developments can go on to experimentation in clinical stages soon. The therapeutic use of NPs to combat different diseases such as cancer, allergies or autoimmune diseases will depend on their characteristics, their targets, and the transported molecules. This review presents an in-depth analysis of recent advances that have been developed in order to obtain novel nanoparticulate based tools for the treatment of allergies, autoimmune diseases and for their use in vaccines. Moreover, it is highlighted that by providing targeted delivery an increase in the potential of vaccines to induce an immune response is expected in the future. Definitively, the here gathered analysis is a good demonstration that nanotechnology will be the basis of future immunotherapy.