Metal-Based Nanoparticles and the Immune System: Activation, Inflammation, and Potential Applications

Abstract

Nanomaterials, including metal-based nanoparticles, are used for various biological and medical applications. However, metals affect immune functions in many animal species including humans. Different physical and chemical properties induce different cellular responses, such as cellular uptake and intracellular biodistribution, leading to the different immune responses. The goals of this review are to summarize and discuss the innate and adaptive immune responses triggered by metal-based nanoparticles in a variety of immune system models.

The responses of immune cells to iron oxide nanoparticles

“…The response of the immune system to nanoparticles (NPs) is critically important to nanomedicine (Borchard, 2010;Luo et al, 2015). For example, the escape from immune attack is key for NPs and drug delivery (Yu & Zheng, 2015).…”

“…Therefore, it is critically important to study the immune response to NPs for any in vivo application. The biomarker expressions of immune cells, such as toll-like receptors (TLRs) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α offer an effective way to study the immune response to NPs (Luo et al, 2015).…”

Long Exposure to CdS-Dextrin Nanoparticles Induces an Immunomodulatory and Anti-Inflammatory Effect in Rats

“…We know that, during an inflammatory process, either Th1 or Th2 lymphocytes can oscillate toward a middle pathway in order to attain balance. The predominance of one will produce a prolonged characteristic state of cellular or humoral defense, which at a given point can lead to inflammatory states acceptable to the host, without producing a manifestation of disease [15].…”

“…Several studies show nanomaterials can stimulate or suppress the immunological response, and there is evidence that their immunogenicity depends largely on their physicochemical characteristics; e.g., size, shape, charge, composition, the chemical groups on the surface, coating, and the state of the biological environment [13][14][15][16][17][18]. It is currently a difficult task to predict how the immunological system will respond to a determined nanomaterial and if the response will be the same in a healthy or diseased condition considering possible theranostic uses.…”

Immuno-silent polymer capsules encapsulating nanoparticles for bioimaging applications

“…5 Though most of the nanocontrast agents have been tested for in vitro cytotoxicity and to some extent, in vivo biodistribution, their immunogenicity studies are either rarely explored or they possess immnuotoxicity. We note that there are some reports available on the investigation of generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is also an indicator of immune toxicity.…”