ABSTRACT
The induction of effective T cell-mediated immune responses is the main objective of vaccination against cancer. T cell responses are initiated by dendritic cells (DCs) as the most potent antigen-presenting cells. Designing vaccines for efficient delivery of tumor antigens to these cells in immunogenic fashion is, therefore, a major task in tumor immunology. In this human-based in vitro study we investigated the suitability of different polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) for delivering the tumor-associated antigen Her2/neu to DCs for induction of T cell responses by mucosal vaccination. The natural polymer chitosan and novel functionalized PLGA-based polymers were used for NP production. All NPs were efficiently taken up by DCs. Her2/neu delivered by NPs was more efficiently processed and presented by DCs than the soluble protein and induced more vigorous CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proliferation, and cytotoxic T cells. Testing the suitability of this platform for mucosal vaccination, NPs were applied to the apical side of an intestinal epithelium model and found to be efficiently transported across the epithelial layer to become available to basolateral DCs. Thus, chitosan and PLGA-based NPs are efficient carriers for delivery of antigens to DCs for induction of T cell-based immunity, and suitable for mucosal vaccine formulations.