Crystallinity of covalent organic frameworks controls immune responses

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Immunology
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Biomaterials can modulate inflammatory responses, impacting their therapeutic potential.
• The influence of biomaterial crystallinity on immune system interactions remains largely uncharacterized.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of covalent organic framework (COF) biomaterial crystallinity on immune cell activation and anti-tumor efficacy.
• To elucidate the mechanisms underlying COF-mediated immune modulation.

Main Methods:

• Assessing dendritic cell (DC) activation and antigen presentation in response to crystalline and amorphous COFs.
• Analyzing immune signaling pathways (NFkB, TNF, RIG-I) and gene expression (Unc5c).
• Evaluating the anti-tumor effects of COFs combined with tumor antigens in mouse models.

Main Results:

• COF crystallinity inversely correlates with DC activation, with amorphous COFs showing higher activation.
• Amorphous COFs upregulate pro-inflammatory pathways (NFkB, TNF, RIG-I) and Unc5c.
• COFs with low crystallinity induced antigen-specific T cell responses and suppressed tumor growth in mouse models.

Conclusions:

• Biomaterial crystallinity is a critical factor in designing immunotherapies.
• Tailoring COF crystallinity can enhance immune responses for anti-cancer applications.
• These findings pave the way for developing novel biomaterial-based immunotherapies.