Biomedical and Chemical Engineering Professor Yaoying Wu was awarded a National Institutes of Health R21 grant for his project titled “Tolerogenic Dendritic Cell Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles for Precision Multiple Sclerosis Therapy.” He will use the grant to develop a new class of nanoparticle-based therapy for multiple sclerosis – one designed to re-educate the immune system rather than suppress it wholesale.
The R21 mechanism is intended to encourage novel, high-impact exploratory research and supports investigators in developing the preliminary data and proof-of-concept needed to pursue larger-scale funding.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system in which the body’s immune cells attack neuron cells, particularly myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibers. An estimated one million people in the United States live with the condition. Current disease-modifying therapies broadly suppress immune activity, leaving patients vulnerable to infection and other complications.
Wu’s approach takes a more targeted path. His laboratory will coat synthetic nanoparticles with membranes harvested from tolerogenic dendritic cells – a specialized class of immune cells that naturally promote tolerance toward the body’s own tissues. The resulting membrane-cloaked nanoparticles are designed to mimic those cells, signaling to the immune system that myelin is not a foreign threat.
Wu joined Syracuse University in January 2023. His research sits at the intersection of biomaterials engineering and immunology, with a particular focus on designing material-based platforms that regulate immune function.
The new project extends Wu’s immunoengineering expertise into the autoimmune disease space. By using the native membranes of tolerogenic dendritic cells as a biological coating, the nanoparticles are expected to carry the same surface proteins and molecular signals those cells use to dampen aberrant immune responses, a cell-mimetic strategy.
If successful, the platform could offer a path toward therapies that address the underlying immunological breakdown driving MS rather than managing symptoms through broad immunosuppression.
“Professor Wu’s NIH R21 award reflects the kind of bold, interdisciplinary innovation that defines biomedical engineering at Syracuse University,” says Biomedical and Chemical Engineering Department Chair Shikha Nangia. “His work at the interface of immunology, biomaterials, and nanotechnology has the potential to fundamentally transform how we approach autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis by moving beyond broad immunosuppression toward precision immune reprogramming.”
Wu is part of Syracuse University’s BioInspired Institute and holds expertise in synthetic biomaterials, peptide assembly, vaccine design and immunoengineering.
The NIH R21 award is administered through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
