Nanotechnology for the modulation of the immune response in HIV and cancer

Abstract

Nanotechnologies with the ability to modulate the immune system can be exploited to develop new advanced therapies. The first part of this thesis describes a potential HIV vaccine candidate consisting of nanoparticles loaded with up to three peptide antigens. Based on the good responses in terms of protection against viral infection in macaques, the quality-by-design and scaling-up production of this vaccine candidate was performed. Finally, in the context of cancer, a potential immunotherapy with the capacity to polarize tumor-associated macrophages towards anti-tumoral phenotypes was developed.