Many current therapies for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) result in global immunosuppression, rendering insufficient efficacy with increased risk of adverse side effects. Multivalent soluble antigen arrays, nanomaterials presenting both autoantigen and secondary inhibitory signals on a flexible polymer backbone, are hypothesized to shift the immune response toward selective autoantigenic tolerance to repress autoimmune disease. Two-signal co-delivery of both autoantigen and secondary signal were deemed necessary for therapeutic efficacy against experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a murine model of MS. Dynamic light scattering and in silico molecular dynamics simulations complemented these studies to illuminate the role of two-signal co-delivery in determining therapeutic potential. Physicochemical characteristics such as particle size and molecular affinity for intermolecular interactions and chain entanglement likely facilitated cotransport of two signals to produce efficacy. These findings elucidate potential mechanisms whereby soluble antigen arrays enact their therapeutic effect and help to guide the development of future multivalent antigen-specific immunotherapies.
Keywords: antigen-specific immunotherapy; autoimmunity; co-delivery; molecular dynamics; nanomaterials.