Immune cell screening of a nanoparticle library improves atherosclerosis therapy

Abstract

Significance The immune system plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of major diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer, which has inspired the development of numerous small molecules to modulate immune cells, intending to create immunotherapies for these diseases. Tissue- and cell-specific delivery of these small molecules is the key to transform these compounds to safe, potent immunotherapies. In this study, we present an in vivo nanoparticle screen approach that involves designing and evaluating a library of nanoparticles with distinct immune cell targeting specificity. This study carries out a systematic in vivo immune cell screening to create effective nanoparticle-based immunotherapy for modulating the pathological immune cells in atherosclerosis.