Immunosuppressive drugs have made clinical strides in pathologies caused by undesirable or dysbalanced, over-reacting immunity such as in allogeneic transplantation, allergies and autoimmune diseases. Yet, their use may be associated with severe outcomes such as infections and cancer. These limitations have sparked investigation into strategies for achieving more specific immune modulation. A more specific approach selectively modulates immunity to the disease-causing antigens alone through the induction of immune tolerance, while preserving immune surveillance and immunity to infectious agents. In addition to pathology-associated allo-antigens, autoantigens and allergens, the expanding use of biologics such as therapeutic antibodies and gene therapy vectors has at times been hampered by immune-mediated neutralization. This has in turn expanded the field to encompass research efforts aimed at the induction of immune tolerance towards these biotherapeutic drugs.
Advances in the understanding of tolerance mechanisms have triggered research and development of treatment strategies to selectively target antigens to those tissue microenvironments, cell types and physiological processes poised to promote immunological tolerance. These include, for example, the tolerogenic liver environment, cells of physiological or compound-aided tolerance-prone antigen presenting properties, and harnessing tolerogenic processes during non-inflammatory cellular clearance.
This Research Topic focuses on such targeted antigen delivery approaches aimed at promoting immune tolerance in autoimmune diseases, transplantation, allergy, and immunogenic responses to biologics. This collection welcomes Original Research Articles, Methods, Reviews and Mini-Reviews that cover, but are not limited to, the following:
i. Design and function of carriers including engineered peptides, proteins, nanoparticles and biomaterials for targeted antigen uptake, processing and presentation.
ii. Immunological mechanisms whereby these novel strategies promote immune tolerance.
iii. Application of these novel immune tolerance-inducing strategies in preclinical studies.
iv. Clinical and regulatory aspects of translating these antigen targeting approaches to therapies for patients in need.
Topic Editor Dr. Barbara Metzler is an employee of Topas Therapeutics. Topic Editor Dr. Stephan Kontos is an employee of Anokion US Inc. and holds equity in Anokion SA and Kanyos Bio Inc. Topic Editor Dr. Tobias Freitag received funding from Cour Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Topic Editor Prof. Jordi Ochando declares no conflicts of interests.
Immunosuppressive drugs have made clinical strides in pathologies caused by undesirable or dysbalanced, over-reacting immunity such as in allogeneic transplantation, allergies and autoimmune diseases. Yet, their use may be associated with severe outcomes such as infections and cancer. These limitations have sparked investigation into strategies for achieving more specific immune modulation. A more specific approach selectively modulates immunity to the disease-causing antigens alone through the induction of immune tolerance, while preserving immune surveillance and immunity to infectious agents. In addition to pathology-associated allo-antigens, autoantigens and allergens, the expanding use of biologics such as therapeutic antibodies and gene therapy vectors has at times been hampered by immune-mediated neutralization. This has in turn expanded the field to encompass research efforts aimed at the induction of immune tolerance towards these biotherapeutic drugs.
Advances in the understanding of tolerance mechanisms have triggered research and development of treatment strategies to selectively target antigens to those tissue microenvironments, cell types and physiological processes poised to promote immunological tolerance. These include, for example, the tolerogenic liver environment, cells of physiological or compound-aided tolerance-prone antigen presenting properties, and harnessing tolerogenic processes during non-inflammatory cellular clearance.
This Research Topic focuses on such targeted antigen delivery approaches aimed at promoting immune tolerance in autoimmune diseases, transplantation, allergy, and immunogenic responses to biologics. This collection welcomes Original Research Articles, Methods, Reviews and Mini-Reviews that cover, but are not limited to, the following:
i. Design and function of carriers including engineered peptides, proteins, nanoparticles and biomaterials for targeted antigen uptake, processing and presentation.
ii. Immunological mechanisms whereby these novel strategies promote immune tolerance.
iii. Application of these novel immune tolerance-inducing strategies in preclinical studies.
iv. Clinical and regulatory aspects of translating these antigen targeting approaches to therapies for patients in need.
Topic Editor Dr. Barbara Metzler is an employee of Topas Therapeutics. Topic Editor Dr. Stephan Kontos is an employee of Anokion US Inc. and holds equity in Anokion SA and Kanyos Bio Inc. Topic Editor Dr. Tobias Freitag received funding from Cour Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Topic Editor Prof. Jordi Ochando declares no conflicts of interests.