Invited Speaker: Mimicking Tumors as a S.M.A.R.T.E.R. Way to Treat Transplant Rejection and Inflammatory Diseases - Presentation II

Next generation drug delivery systems will be capable of communicating with the biological microenvironment in ways that are similar to real cells and tissues. A primary way that this is accomplished in situ through secretion and spatiotemporal organization of soluble proteins that can lead to the homing and/or differentiation of specialized endogenous cells involved in regulation of the immune system. In contrast, current gold standard immunosuppressive treatments block or suppress the immune system locally or even globally. We have recently developed a platform called Sustained-release, Microparticle-based, Anti-Rejection Therapy through Enhancement of Regulatory T-cells (S.M.A.R.T.E.R.) Platform that takes advantage of the body’s own regulatory functions instead of suppressing the entire immune system. These formulations effectively mimic a strategy used by tumors to avoid immune rejection. We have shown that these systems can effectively recruit Tregs toward the site of placement in vivo, with these recruited Tregs demonstrating significant promise for promoting local immunological homeostasis. This new strategy is the basis for multiple startup companies that intend to address diseases involving destructive inflammation including limb and tissue transplantation, dry eye disease, periodontal disease, and contact dermatitis. Remarkably, these new mimetic formulations are capable of inducing systemic, dominant antigen-specific tolerance for numerous alloantigens using only picograms-to-nanograms per kilogram of active ingredient.