title: Synthetic immunology: modulating the human immune system.
abstract: Humans have manipulated the immune system to dampen or boost the immune response for thousands of years. As our understanding of fundamental immunology and biotechnological methodology accumulates, we can capitalize on this combined knowledge to engineer biological devices with the aim of rationally manipulating the immune response. We address therapeutic approaches based on the principles of synthetic immunology that either ameliorate disorders of the immune system by interfering with the immune response, or improve diverse pathogenic conditions by exploiting immune cell effector functions. We specifically highlight synthetic proteins investigated in preclinical and clinical trials, summarize studies that have used engineered immune cells, and finish with a discussion of possible future therapeutic concepts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Geering
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland; Faculty of Science, University of Basel, Mattenstrasse 26, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: martin.fussenegger@bsse.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fussenegger
mesh_terms: D000486:Allergy and Immunology / Q000639:trends*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D060846:Cell Engineering / Q000379:methods; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000187:drug effects; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000187:drug effects; D056747:Immunomodulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive / Q000379:methods; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D009000:Monocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000096:biosynthesis; D058615:Synthetic Biology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
keywords: adoptive immunotherapy; antibody derivative; antibody mimetic; autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; protein engineering; synthetic biology