Chemical Engineering Seminar

Recent research into the immune system has revealed that foreign pathogens are detected through a series of receptors on antigen presenting cells.  These receptors are synergistically activated by multiple pathogen associated molecular patterns.  Polymer chemists have a large role to play in the coordinated design of vaccines and synthetic activators of the immune system.  We report on our development of chemical and polymeric tools for interacting with the immune system.  Our methods involve the bioconjugation of multiple PAMPs to polymeric scaffolds.  These synergistic PAMP scaffolds have been tested against dendritic cells and we will report on the results.  Additionally, we will report on our work coupling these synergistic combinations to cell-surface and other antigen rich environments.  We also report on our attempts to control the innate immune system using light to guide responses.