Abstract
The lectin pathway of the complement system is an integral component of the innate immune system recognizing pathogens through patterns of sugar moieties displayed on their surfaces and neutralizing them through an antibody-independent reaction cascade. Many engineered nanoparticles incite complement through the lectin pathway, but these nanoparticles inherently do not express surface-exposed sugars. However, the projected polymeric surface architecture of nanoparticles may transiently resemble structural motifs of peptidoglycan constituents of pathogens and trigger the lectin pathway. We discuss these issues in relation to nanomedicine design and immune safety.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 263-268 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | European Journal of Nanomedicine |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2015 |
Keywords
- drug delivery
- infusion-related reactions
- innate immunity
- nanomedicine
- nanoparticles
- polymers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Bioengineering
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Biomedical Engineering
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry