Issue 31, 2022, Issue in Progress

Gold nanoparticles decorated with ovalbumin-derived epitopes: effect of shape and size on T-cell immune responses

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) can be manufactured in various shapes, and their size is programmable, which permits the study of the effects imposed by these parameters on biological processes. However, there is currently no clear evidence that a certain shape or size is beneficial. To address this issue, we have utilised GNPs and gold nanorods (GNRs) functionalised with model epitopes derived from chicken ovalbumin (OVA257–264 and OVA323–339). By using two distinct epitopes, it was possible to draw conclusions regarding the impact of nanoparticle shape and size on different aspects of the immune response. Our findings indicate that the peptide amphiphile-coated GNPs and GNRs are a safe and versatile epitope-presenting system. Smaller GNPs (∼15 nm in diameter) induce significantly less intense T-cell responses. Furthermore, effective antigen presentation via MHC-I was observed for larger spherical particles (∼40 nm in diameter), and to a lesser extent for rod-like particles (40 by 15 nm). At the same time, antigen presentation via MHC-II strongly correlated with the cellular uptake, with smaller GNPs being the least efficient. We believe these findings will have implications for vaccine development, and lead to a better understanding of cellular uptake and antigen egress from lysosomes into the cytosol.

Graphical abstract: Gold nanoparticles decorated with ovalbumin-derived epitopes: effect of shape and size on T-cell immune responses

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 May 2022
Accepted
28 Jun 2022
First published
07 Jul 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2022,12, 19703-19716

Gold nanoparticles decorated with ovalbumin-derived epitopes: effect of shape and size on T-cell immune responses

E. A. Egorova, G. E. M. Lamers, F. A. Monikh, A. L. Boyle, B. Slütter and A. Kros, RSC Adv., 2022, 12, 19703 DOI: 10.1039/D2RA03027F

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