Nucleic Acid Nanobiology for Drug Delivery and Immunotherapy

Dear Colleagues,

Immunotherapy describes the treatment of disease using immune cells and immunomodulatory molecules such as certain proteins and nucleic acids. The burgeoning field of immunotherapy has seen tremendous advances in treating complex diseases such as cancers and autoimmune disorders. Recently, nucleic acids have garnered tremendous attention for these purposes due to their precise customizability and varied activities in personalized nanomedicine. Nucleic acids have the ability to act as natural immune suppressants or activators for a variety of purposes. Advancements in aptamer technology, the discovery of regulatory RNAs, and developments in nanotechnology have enabled a myriad of novel therapies based on DNA and RNA.

Immunomodulatory nucleic acids have been identified as potent pharmaceuticals, ranging from Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) agonists to checkpoint blockades. CpG DNA oligonucleotides bind specifically to TLR 9 and act as effective immune activators, generating a far greater immune response than that of random sequence DNAs of the same length. Similarly designed DNA agonists have been shown to bind irreversibly to the same receptors to reduce undesirable immune responses.

By harnessing the programmable architecture of nucleic acids, dynamic structures can be designed which are capable of carrying out precisely controlled functions and immunomodulation for uses in nanomedicine. The coverage of this Special Issue will include (but not limited) by following topics:

• Immunorecognition of nucleic acids in animal models and humans
• Desirable immunomodulation using nucleic-acid based nanoparticles
• Undesirable immunological side-effects of nucleic acid therapeutics
• Rational design and characterization of programmable nucleic-acid based nanoparticles
• Delivery of nucleic-acid based nanoparticles and effect of carrier on their immunorecognition
• Therapeutic nucleic-acid based nanoparticles: design, assembly, characterization

Dr. Kirill Afonin
Guest Editor

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