Dendritic cells (DC) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells and are fundamental for the establishment of transplant tolerance. The Dendritic Cell-Specific Intracellular adhesion molecule-3-Grabbing Non-integrin (DC-SIGN; CD209) receptor provides a target for dendritic cell therapy. Biodegradable and high-surface area porous silicon (pSi) nanoparticles displaying anti-DC-SIGN antibodies and loaded with the immunosuppressant rapamycin (Sirolimus) serve as a fit-for-purpose platform to target and modify DC. Here, we describe the fabrication of rapamycin-loaded DC-SIGN displaying pSi nanoparticles, the uptake efficiency into DC and the extent of nanoparticle-induced modulation of phenotype and function. DC-SIGN antibody displaying pSi nanoparticles favourably targeted and were phagocytosed by monocyte-derived and myeloid DC in whole human blood in a time- and dose-dependent manner. DC preconditioning with rapamycin-loaded nanoparticles, resulted in a maturation resistant phenotype and significantly suppressed allogeneic T-cell proliferation.

树突状细胞（DC）是最有效的抗原呈递细胞，是建立移植耐受性的基础。树突状细胞特异性细胞内粘附分子-3-抓取非整联蛋白（DC-SIGN; CD209）受体为树突状细胞治疗提供了目标。具有抗DC-SIGN抗体且负载有免疫抑制剂雷帕霉素（Sirolimus）的可生物降解的高表面积多孔硅（pSi）纳米颗粒可作为靶向和修饰DC的合适平台。在这里，我们描述了载有雷帕霉素的显示pSi纳米颗粒的DC-SIGN的制备，对DC的吸收效率以及纳米颗粒诱导的表型和功能调节的程度。展示pSi纳米颗粒的DC-SIGN抗体具有良好的靶向性，并被单核细胞和髓样DC在全血中以时间和剂量依赖性方式吞噬。DC预处理雷帕霉素负载的纳米粒子，导致抗成熟的表型，并显着抑制了同种异体T细胞的增殖。