Nanoimmunotherapy for chronic immune-mediated diseases

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ABSTRACT Current pharmaceutical agents that are used for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory conditions including autoimmune diseases generally do not lead to remission and frequently carry toxic side effects. Here we propose a strategy that can harness the capacity of the immune system to induce immunoregulatory response that can suppress immune hyperactivity and chronic inflammation in vivo. The product that we propose consists of nanoparticles (NPs) targeted to immunoregulatory cells for their expansion and functional activity in vitro and in vivo. Our approach to generate and expand functional immunoregulatory cells that become impaired in autoimmune diseases should contribute to restoring immune homeostasis and improve disease outcomes. This approach is especially designed to treat systemic lupus erythematosus. The proof-of-concept for this Phase 1 studies will be to show that our cell-targeted NPs can markedly expand ex vivo both CD4+ and CD8+ Tregs, and TGF-ß producing NK regulatory cells that we recently described. Complementary experiments in humanized mice will address the in vivo functional efficacy of those NP-induced immunoregulatory cells in suppressing effector immune responses in vivo, including in an animal model of human lupus. By demonstrating that NP-expanded human immunoregulatory cells are functional in vivo in humanized mice, we propose a new nanoimmunotherapeutic approach to restore immune regulation and induce remission in autoimmune disease. Importantly, this in vivo cell-targeted strategy has the potential to overcome the undesired side effects of the broadly non-specific, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs presently used to treat autoimmune diseases.