Dendritic cells (DCs) can acquire, process, and present antigens to T-cells to induce an immune response. For this reason, targeting cancer antigens to DCs in order to cause an immune response against cancer is an emerging area of nanomedicine that has the potential to redefine the way certain cancers are treated. The use of plasmonically active silver-coated gold nanorods (henceforth referred to as plasmonic nano vectors (PNVs)) as potential carriers for DC tumor vaccines has not been presented before. Effective carriers must be able to be phagocytized by DCs, present low toxicity, and induce the maturation of DCs—an early indication of an immune response. When we treated DCs with the PNVs, we found that the cell viability of DCs was unaffected, up to 200 μg/ml. Additionally, the PNVs associated with the DCs as they were phagocytized and they were found to reside within intracellular compartments such as endosomes. More importantly, the PNVs were able to induce expression of surface markers indicative of DC activation and maturation, i.e. CD40, CD86, and MHC class II. These results provide the first evidence that PNVs are promising carriers for DC-based vaccines and warrant further investigating for clinical use.

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Complex skin wounds have always been a significant health and economic problem worldwide due to their elusive and sometimes poor or non-healing conditions. If not well-treated, such wounds may lead to amputation, infections, cancer, or even death. Thus, there is a need to efficiently generate multifunctional skin grafts that address a wide range of skin conditions, including non-healing wounds, and enable the regeneration of new skin tissue. Here, we propose studying pristine graphene and two of its oxygen-functionalized derivatives-high and low-oxygen graphene films-as potential substrates for skin cell proliferation and differentiation. Using BJ cells (human foreskin-derived fibroblasts) to represent basic skin cells, we show that the changes in surface properties of pristine graphene due to oxygen functionalization do not seem to statistically impact the normal proliferation and maturation of skin cells. Our results indicate that the pristine and oxidized graphenes presented relatively low cytotoxicity to BJ fibroblasts and, in fact, support their growth and bioactivity. Therefore, these graphene films could potentially be integrated into more complex skin regenerative systems to support skin regeneration. Because graphene's surface can be relatively easily functionalized with various chemical groups, this finding presents a major opportunity for the development of various composite materials that can act as active components in regenerative applications such as skin regeneration.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) hold great promise in nanomedicine, yet their successful clinical translation has not been realized. Some challenges include effective AuNP targeting and delivery to improve modulation of immune cells of interest while limiting potential adverse effects. In order to overcome these challenges, we must fully understand how AuNPs impact different immune cell subsets, particularly within the dendritic cell and T cell compartments. Herein, we show that polyethylene glycol coated (PEG) gold nanorods (AuNRs) and PEG AuNRs covered with a thin layer of silver (AuNR/Ag) may enhance the immune response towards immune suppression or activation. We also studied the ability to enhance CD4+ Foxp3+ Tregs in vitro using AuNRs functionalized with interleukin 2 (IL2), a cytokine that is important in Treg development and homeostasis. Our results indicate that AuNRs enhance different immune cells and that NP composition matters in immune targeting. This knowledge will help us understand how to better design AuNRs to target and enhance the immune system.

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