Fig. 1

Overview of nano-immunoengineering designs and applications. Four major types of materials suited for biomedical applications include lipids, polymers, proteins, and inorganic materials. Therapeutic cargoes encapsulated in lipid coatings or grafted with poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) can increase stability and circulation half-life. Nanoparticles can extravasate into tumors or tissues depending on the size, shape, charge, and hydrophobicity. In the tumors, the nanoparticles could enhance T cell functions or reprogram tumor-associated immune cells to improve anti-tumor efficacy; in the tissues, nanoparticles engulfed by dendritic cells (DCs) could either promote host immunity or tolerance when they migrate to the lymph nodes; in injured tissues, nanoparticles could reprogram resident immune cells such as macrophages to a healing phenotype to accelerate wound healing