# Laser-based non-invasive immunotherapy for food allergy

> **NIH NIH R21** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2020 · $200,479

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This proposal explores the cellular and molecular mechanisms of non-tissue damaging near-infrared (NIR) laser
to augment epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) with the ultimate purpose of developing an effective, painless,
side effect-free treatment for food allergy. Food allergy affects approximately 5% of adults and 8% of children
and is steadily growing in Western countries lately, posing medical and economic burden on our society. Despite
our improved understanding of food allergy in recent years, the causal treatment for this condition is yet to be
developed. EPIT involves non-invasive administration of relatively small dose of causative allergen via skin using
simple technique and has the numbers of advantages over other candidate therapies. The efficacy and durability
of EPIT, however, has been modest in desensitizing patients with mild but applicable adverse events in clinical
trials. Chemical and biological agents, which have been used to increase the efficacy of vaccines against
infectious diseases, have been shown to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy and could be used to overcome
the shortcomings. However, these agents are designed to trigger a “danger signal” in the immune system to
enhance the immune response and linked to unexpected side effects. The novel methodology to improve the
efficacy and durability of EPIT would constitute a significant advance to achieve clinical significance. We have
previously shown that a brief exposure of skin to non-tissue damaging NIR laser augments the immune response
to the intradermal vaccine via enhancing migration of skin-resident migratory dendritic cells (migDCs) into lymph
nodes without overt inflammation or side effect. These provocative findings led us to hypothesize that a
combination approach of the NIR laser and EPIT using the non-invasive hydrogel patch system offers an optimal
microenvironment for migDCs to migrate into the secondary lymphoid tissue and efficiently mount the
subsequent immune response, thus inducing the robust and durable tolerance response to food allergen. The
specific aims of this proposal are: (i) Determine whether the NIR laser in combination with hydrogel patch-based
EPIT enhances gut-homing regulatory T cells (Tregs) and reduces clinical symptoms in a model of clinically
relevant peanut allergy, and (ii) Determine the role of the distinct migDC subset in induction of Treg populations
mediating suppression of allergic TH2 responses by the NIR laser in the context of EPIT. Unlike the conventional
chemical or biological agents, laser is a physical parameter inducing selective signaling to enhance activation of
migDCs, and therefore does not pose any safety or stability issues. Laser does not require special formulation
when being combined with immunotherapeutic either. In view of the fact that NIR lasers have been used in the
field of medicine for decades, and the hydrogel patch system has been proved to be safe and effective in clinical
testing, suc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9856983
- **Project number:** 5R21AI144103-02
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Satoshi Kashiwagi
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $200,479
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9856983

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9856983, Laser-based non-invasive immunotherapy for food allergy (5R21AI144103-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9856983. Licensed CC0.

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