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Updated: Oct 11, 2025
Intra-lymph Node Injection of Biodegradable Polymer Particles
Published on: January 2, 2014
Innovations in lymph node targeting nanocarriers
Jihoon Kim1, Paul A Archer2, Susan N Thomas3
1Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, 315 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 315 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
Abstract:
Lymph nodes are secondary lymphoid tissues in the body that facilitate the co-mingling of immune cells to enable and regulate the adaptive immune response. They are also tissues implicated in a variety of diseases, including but not limited to malignancy. The ability to access lymph nodes is thus attractive for a variety of therapeutic and diagnostic applications. As nanotechnologies are now well established for their potential in translational biomedical applications, their high relevance to applications that involve lymph nodes is highlighted. Herein, established paradigms of nanocarrier design to enable delivery to lymph nodes are discussed, considering the unique lymph node tissue structure as well as lymphatic system physiology. The influence of delivery mechanism on how nanocarrier systems distribute to different compartments and cells that reside within lymph nodes is also elaborated. Finally, current advanced nanoparticle technologies that have been developed to enable lymph node delivery are discussed.
