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Nanotechnology for Enhanced Cytoplasmic and Organelle Delivery of Bioactive Molecules to Immune Cells

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Abstract

Immune cells stand as a critical component of the immune system to maintain the internal environment homeostasis. The dysfunction of immune cells can result in various life-threatening diseases, including refractory infection, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Therefore, strategies to standardize or even enhance the function of immune cells are critical. Recently, nanotechnology has been highly researched and extensively applied for enhancing the cytoplasmic delivery of bioactive molecules to immune cells, providing efficient approaches to correct in vivo and in vitro dysfunction of immune cells. This review focuses on the technologies and challenges involved in improving endo-lysosomal escape, cytoplasmic release and organelle targeted delivery of different bioactive molecules in immune cells. Furthermore, it will elaborate on the broader vision of applying nanotechnology for treating immune cell-related diseases and constructing immune therapies and cytopharmaceuticals as potential treatments for diseases.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DISCLOSURES

The authors thank the public platform of State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81973270, 81930099, 82130102, 81773664), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20212011), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China for Excellent Young Scholars (No. BK20190078), "Double First-Class" University project (No. CPU2018GY47, CPU2018GF10), 111 Project from the Ministry of Education of China and the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs of China (No.111–2-07, B17047), and the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines (No. SKLNMZZ202017).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Center of Advanced Pharmaceuticals and Biomaterials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery for Metabolic Diseases, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China

    Xiaoyu Li, Charos Omonova Tuychi qizi, Amari Mohamed Khamis, Can Zhang & Zhigui Su

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  1. Xiaoyu Li
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  2. Charos Omonova Tuychi qizi
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Correspondence to Can Zhang or Zhigui Su.

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Li, X., Omonova Tuychi qizi, C., Mohamed Khamis, A. et al. Nanotechnology for Enhanced Cytoplasmic and Organelle Delivery of Bioactive Molecules to Immune Cells. Pharm Res 39, 1065–1083 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-022-03284-0

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