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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Intra-lymph Node Injection of Biodegradable Polymer Particles
Published on: January 2, 2014
Modulation of innate and adaptive immunity by biodegradable nanoparticles
Tomofumi Uto1, Takami Akagi, Takayuki Hamasaki
1Division of Antiviral Chemotherapy, Center for Chronic Viral Diseases, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
Abstract:
Vaccine strategy needs efficient adjuvants to induce potent antigen-specific immune responses by targeting antigens to antigen presenting cells followed by their functional maturation. In this study, biodegradable poly(gamma-glutamic acid) (gamma-PGA) nanoparticles (NPs) were examined for their immunological activities in mice. Like lipopolysaccharide, gamma-PGA NPs strongly activated spleen dendritic cells (DCs) and induced their cytokine production and costimulatory molecule expression through the nuclear factor-kappaB and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. The immunization of mice with ovalbumin-carrying gamma-PGA NPs could induce the antigen-specific and long-lived effector and central memory CD8(+) T cells as well as antibody responses. Thus, gamma-PGA NPs have great potential as an efficient antigen carrier and strong adjuvant to DCs.
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