---
title: "Immunoengineering"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunoengineering"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:55:27.748373+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Tissue engineering ==
The role of immunoengineering in the realm of tissue engineering stems from the need to combat undesirable effects, such as rejection and inflammation, that result from introducing non-native biomaterials ranging from biological macromolecules to fully synthetic coatings, transplantation of non-native materials in procedures such as solid organ transplantation and vascularized composite allotransplantation, or the use of internal medical devices.  Additionally, as of the early 2010s, there was an uptick in research involving the possibility of altering the immune system for the purpose of inducing tissue regeneration and repair when solid organ transplantation or vascularized composite allotransplantation is not feasible. Procedures of this sort involve the introduction of material that is known as exogenous, or non-autologous, material. Due to the nature of the material, an immune response can be induced, which alerts the body to break down or dispel the foreign material, leading to pain, redness, and swelling, based on markers on the body of the exogenous cells, known as antigens, the shape and size of the molecules comprising the material, or foreign proteins from the material that interact with the host's immune system.
The main method of preventing these side effects is known as immunosuppression therapy, which involves providing the patient with a mixture of multiple drugs for the purpose of preventing the immune system from inducing inflammatory responses at the transplantation site. Each drug is specialized to target specific immunologic pathways depending on the procedure conducted and the biomaterial introduced. Most therapies are required to continue on for the person's lifetime, usually leading to adverse side effects or the risk of rejection if the drugs are not consistently administered. In most cases, systemic side effects of immunosuppressive therapies include metabolic disorders, infections, cancer, pancreatic toxicity, post-transplant diabetes, cytomegalovirus, and fungal infections due to the patient's immune system being shut down as a whole. Because of this, more precise immunoregulatory practices or alternatives to immunosuppression altogether, are highly sought after. Currently, a few alternatives that exist include the use of cell therapy, amniotic epithelial stem cells, neutrophil activation, macrophage polarization, Th1 to Th2 lymphocyte switching, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine regulation, and regulatory T cell induction.

=== Alternatives to immunosuppression ===

==== Cellular therapy ====

The use of cellular therapy as an alternative to immunosuppression involves the use of cells and cellular components to regulate the immune system to a state of homeostasis to combat the need of long-term immunosuppressant drugs. Regulatory T cells, neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and regulatory myeloid cells are employed to promote anti-inflammatory outcomes in immune responses after the transplantation of foreign materials. The goal is to block certain signaling pathways that induce inflammatory responses at the transplantation site at the onset of foreign material identification. The purpose of manipulating these cells and the immune response is to reduce, if not prevent, malignancies and metabolic disorders from developing in the patient.

=== Tissue regeneration and repair ===
The immune system can also be used to induce regeneration or repair of native tissue through influencing specific signaling pathways during an immune response during the manipulation of the damaged tissue, the introduced biomaterial, and the immune cells involved. One of the more common tissues to be the center of this type of therapy for regeneration happens to be tendon tissue due to its low cell count and low vascularization, making it one of the most difficult tissues to heal. This type of therapy explores the benefits of using and manipulating biomaterials such as bioactive molecules, immune cells, and stem cells for the purpose of preventing the excess formation of scar tissue that eventually leads to mobility issues, fibrotic encapsulation, tissue destruction, isolation and rejection of medical devices, and chronic pain at the injury or operation site.
There are two levels of the immune system and how they interact with the introduced biomaterial to induce regeneration of the tissue. To begin, there has to be the initial recognition of the foreign material and a non-specific inflammatory response induced by the innate immune system. Next, the adaptive immune system induces multiple highly-specific antigen responses depending on the materials identified, and develops a long-term memory for materials to recognize in the future.

== mRNA vaccines ==

mRNA vaccines work similar to recombinant protein vaccines. Recombinant protein vaccines contain tiny proteins from the surface of the virus or bacteria they are trying to fight. Immune cells recognize foreign cells because their surface proteins are not the same shape as native cell surface proteins. The foreign surface proteins are also called antigens. When immune cells find the antigens delivered by the vaccine, they set off an immune response.
Unlike recombinant protein vaccines, mRNA vaccines directly contain mRNA strands that hold instructions for making surface proteins. When native cells receive the mRNA strands, they begin producing the antigens which triggers an immune response.
To fight the detected antigens, the lymph node starts producing B cells. B cells produce antibodies specific to the detected antigen. These antibodies are distributed through the body by plasma cells for around two weeks. Plasma cells tend to have short life spans, but those who live longer live in bone marrow and continue producing antibodies for years.
Memory B cells are also produced and deployed around the body. If a memory B cells later encounters the pathogen they were programmed to remember, they call for production of plasma cells that can deploy antibodies against the invading pathogen.

== References ==