Nanosized artificial antigen-presenting cells (aAPCs),
synthetic
immune cell mimics that aim to activate T cells
ex
or
in vivo
, offer an effective alternative to cellular
immunotherapies. However, comprehensive studies that delineate the
effect of nano-aAPC topology, including nanoparticle morphology and
ligand density, are lacking. Here, we systematically studied the topological
effects of polymersome-based aAPCs on T cell activation. We employed
an aAPC library created from biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)-
block
-poly(
d
,
l
-lactide) (PEG-PDLLA) polymersomes
with spherical or tubular shape and variable sizes, which were functionalized
with αCD3 and αCD28 antibodies at controlled densities.
Our results indicate that high ligand density leads to enhancement
in T cell activation, which can be further augmented by employing
polymersomes with larger size. At low ligand density, the effect of
both polymersome shape and size was more pronounced, showing that
large elongated polymersomes better activate T cells compared to their
spherical or smaller counterparts. This study demonstrates the capacity
of polymersomes as aAPCs and highlights the role of topology for their
rational design.
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