Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan that is found in extracellular tissue in many parts of the body. It is a material of increasing importance to biomaterials science and is finding applications in diverse areas ranging from tissue culture scaffolds to cosmetic materials. This paper reviews the recent research on the role of HA as a immunoprotective and immunomodulatory biomaterial and the importance of HA in combating immune related diseases such as type 1 diabetes, cancer, and autoimmunity. The chemical modifications and processing methods employed to produce HA-modified materials are discussed, thus giving a better understanding of the structure-function-property relationships that influence immunomodulation, immunoprotection and stability. The article concludes with a discussion on the latest progress in HA materials science which is enabling the realisation of new therapies such as vaccine delivery, immunotherapy, cell encapsulation and transplantation.

透明质酸（HA）是一种糖胺聚糖，存在于人体许多部位的细胞外组织中。它是对生物材料科学越来越重要的材料，并且正在从组织培养支架到化妆品材料的各种领域中找到应用。本文回顾了有关HA作为免疫保护和免疫调节生物材料的作用的最新研究，以及HA在对抗免疫相关疾病（如1型糖尿病，癌症和自身免疫）中的重要性。讨论了用于生产HA修饰材料的化学修饰方法和加工方法，从而更好地了解了影响免疫调节，免疫保护和稳定性的结构-功能-性质之间的关系。