Gibson Group News
Controlling Dendritic Cell Function using Glyco-surfaces is published
There is a real need to modulate our immune systems to help treat cancer, autoimmune disorders and allergies. One of the key cell types in immune responses are dendritic cells. There is particular interest in how dendritic cells interact with, and respond to glycans (sugars), which is a key process during e.g pathogen recognition. In this work we developed surfaces bearing different monosaccharides, attached via a polymeric tether and our collaborators at Nottingham University investigated the impact this had on dendritic cell function. The strategy was crucial as no soluble additives were used, so the signalling was purely from the cell/solid interface, and hence would show if a material can be used to tune DC cell function. The key results were that specific combination of glycans could suppress dendritic cell activation implying an anti-inflammatory or regulatory phenotype.
Read the paper here