title: The neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn, as a target for drug delivery and therapy.
abstract: Immunoglobulin G (IgG)-based drugs are arguably the most successful class of protein therapeutics due in part to their remarkably long blood circulation. This arises from IgG interaction with the neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn. FcRn is the central regulator of IgG and albumin homeostasis throughout life and is increasingly being recognized as an important player in autoimmune disease, mucosal immunity, and tumor immune surveillance. Various engineering approaches that hijack or disrupt the FcRn-mediated transport pathway have been devised to develop long-lasting and non-invasive protein therapeutics, protein subunit vaccines, and therapeutics for treatment of autoimmune and infectious disease. In this review, we highlight the diverse biological functions of FcRn, emerging therapeutic opportunities, as well as the associated challenges of targeting FcRn for drug delivery and disease therapy.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, USA; Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave., Box 0912, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA. Electronic address: jsockolo@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Sockolosky
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, USA; Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave., Box 0912, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA. Electronic address: szoka@cgl.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Francis C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Szoka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology*; D011961:Receptors, Fc / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011961:Receptors, Fc; C100688:Fc receptor, neonatal
keywords: Albumin; FcRn; Immunoglobulin G; Nanoparticle; Protein engineering