Nanotechnological Approaches to Immunosuppression and Tolerance Induction

Purpose of Review: Several pre-clinical studies have engineered nanoparticles for immune regulation and have shown promising results in the fields of autoimmunity and cancer. In solid organ transplantation, the use of nanoparticle-based immune regulation has only just begun to emerge but holds significant promise for the improvement of our current standard of care immunosuppressive regimens. In this review, we will shed light on the current status of nanoparticle-engineered immunotherapeutics and the potential application of these technologies to the field of organ transplantation. Further, we discuss different strategies for delivery and potential cellular targeting moieties that could be utilized to obviate the need for high-dose systemic immunosuppressive regimens. Recent Findings: Recent studies have shown the potential of immunosuppressive-laden nanoparticles to increase bioavailability, drug release, and specifically target immune cell compartments as methods to provide recipient immunosuppressive sparing strategies. Summary: Nanoparticle-centered immunosuppressive strategies hold the potential to usher in a new era in transplant recipient management and could hold the key to minimizing off-target effects of immunosuppressants, along with prolonging transplant survival. © 2017, Springer International Publishing AG.