# Surface-functionalized nanoparticle adjuvants for pulmonary immune modulation

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE · 2020 · $318,060

## Abstract

4. Surface-functionalized nanoparticle adjuvants for pulmonary immune modulation.
Project Leader: Catherine Fromen (CBE)
Respiratory diseases impact millions of people worldwide and novel advances are needed to
improve prophylactic and treatment options. Inhalable vaccines have demonstrated notable
efficacy, providing organ-specific responses and universal protection across alternative mucosa
for improved barrier protection. However, development of efficient, cost-effective immune-
modulatory therapies for inhalation remains elusive, owing to a lack of mucosal-specific adjuvants
capable of delivering of precision molecular cues that yield highly regulated immune responses.
To address this need, we will develop nanoparticle (NP)-based adjuvants specifically for inhalable
delivery and identify the physiochemical features that lead to controlled lung immune profiles.
Inspired by molecular interactions, we will inform the molecular design of NP adjuvants to provide
precise signaling cues that direct specific T helper 1 (TH1), TH2, and TH17 immune responses in
the lung, creating precision NPs that enable optimized delivery of novel pathogen associated
molecular pattern (PAMP) ligands. Building on historical success of alum as a TH2 adjuvant, we
will leverage the inherent low density and regularly ordered structure of metal organic framework
(MOF) NPs to generate a novel class of porous aluminum-containing MOF adjuvants and
evaluate their structure-functional adjuvant responses in the lung. In parallel, we will evaluate the
role of specific physiochemical properties of these and polymeric-based adjuvant NPs to elucidate
the role of net surface charge, pendant chemical species, NP degradation rate, and PAMP ligand
valency (including highly purified bacterial peptidoglycan signaling molecules proposed by Grimes
during Phase I) in driving specific adjuvant responses. The overall scientific outcomes of this
project will be 1) generation of a new library of adjuvants with precise molecular designs 2)
evaluation of our adjuvant systems for both lung-specific prophylactic vaccination and immune
modulating therapies, and 3) establishment of a working set of design rules in regards to
physiochemical NP properties for pulmonary therapeutics. The proposed studies will broadly
improve fundamental understanding of adjuvant NP interactions and inform molecular-level
design rules for pulmonary applications.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10026275
- **Project number:** 2P20GM104316-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
- **Principal Investigator:** Catherine A Fromen
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $318,060
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2014-09-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10026275

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10026275, Surface-functionalized nanoparticle adjuvants for pulmonary immune modulation (2P20GM104316-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10026275. Licensed CC0.

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