Full text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

The skeletal muscle has a very remarkable ability to regenerate upon injury under physiological conditions; however, this regenerative capacity is strongly diminished in physio-pathological conditions, such as those present in diseased or aged muscles. Many muscular dystrophies (MDs) are characterized by aberrant inflammation due to the deregulation of both the lymphoid and myeloid cell populations and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Pathological inflammation is also observed in old muscles due to a systemic change in the immune system, known as “inflammaging”. Immunomodulation represents, therefore, a promising therapeutic opportunity for different skeletal muscle conditions. However, the use of immunomodulatory drugs in the clinics presents several caveats, including their low stability in vivo, the need for high doses to obtain therapeutically relevant effects, and the presence of strong side effects. Within this context, the emerging field of nanomedicine provides the powerful tools needed to control the immune response. Nano-scale materials are currently being explored as biocarriers to release immunomodulatory agents in the damaged tissues, allowing therapeutic doses with limited off-target effects. In addition, the intrinsic immunomodulatory properties of some nanomaterials offer further opportunities for intervention that still need to be systematically explored. Here we exhaustively review the state-of-the-art regarding the use of nano-sized materials to modulate the aberrant immune response that characterizes some physio-pathological muscle conditions, such as MDs or sarcopenia (the age-dependent loss of muscle mass). Based on our learnings from cancer and immune tolerance induction, we also discuss further opportunities, challenges, and limitations of the emerging field of nano-immunomodulation.

Details

Title
Nano-Immunomodulation: A New Strategy for Skeletal Muscle Diseases and Aging?
Author
Millozzi, Francesco 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Papait, Andrea 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bouché, Marina 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Parolini, Ornella 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Palacios, Daniela 2 

 Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic Medicine and Orthopaedic Sciences, Section of Histology and Embryology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via del Fosso di Fiorano, 64, 00143 Rome, Italy 
 Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Vito, 1, 00168 Rome, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Vito, 1, 00168 Rome, Italy 
 Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic Medicine and Orthopaedic Sciences, Section of Histology and Embryology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy 
First page
1175
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
16616596
e-ISSN
14220067
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2767226929
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.