Emerging glyco-based strategies to steer immune responses

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Glycoscience
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Glycans are key posttranslational protein modifications involved in cellular functions.
• Glycans modulate immune responses by interacting with glycan-binding receptors on antigen-presenting cells.
• This interaction can either induce inflammation or promote immune tolerance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review emerging advances in glycan-based therapeutic tools.
• To discuss the application of glycan conjugates and glycoengineered cells in cancer therapy.
• To explore glycan-based nanoparticles and therapies for autoimmune conditions.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on glycan-based immunotherapies.
• Discussion of glycan-modified conjugates and glycoengineered cells for antigen targeting.
• Analysis of glycan-based nanoparticles and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies.

Main Results:

• Glycan-modified agents can target tumor antigens to antigen-presenting cells.
• Glycan-based nanoparticles serve as effective platforms for enhancing immune responses.
• Novel glycan-based therapies show promise in targeting cancer and suppressing autoimmunity.

Conclusions:

• Glycan-based strategies offer versatile approaches for therapeutic intervention in cancer and autoimmune diseases.
• Targeting glycan-specific epitopes with engineered cells like CAR-T cells is a promising avenue.
• Glycan moieties can be utilized to suppress detrimental immune responses, particularly in autoimmunity.