Bioengineering strategies to interrogate and modulate the aging immune system

Age-related changes in the immune system result in pronounced vulnerability to acute infections and cancers, and in dysregulated inflammation and wound healing that fuel many chronic diseases. Although we understand much about some of these changes, gaps in mechanistic knowledge remain, in part hindered by a lack of well-validated in vitro models of immune aging. We propose that multidisciplinary approaches, nucleated at the interface of immunology, gerontology and engineering, have the potential to both bring substantial new knowledge, and to usher a new era of precision diagnostics and therapeutics to reprogram and rejuvenate immunity, potentially improving the length and quality of life in older adults. We outline areas to be addressed by this multidisciplinary approach, focusing on the initiation of immune responses. We discuss the potential for new approaches in drug delivery, extracellular matrix and related biomaterials, and in microphysiological and organoid systems, to advance the science of immune aging.