Page - (000382) - in Biomedical Chemistry: Current Trends and Developments

interleukins (ILs) are the most common non-specific anticancer immunotherapies loaded inside nanoparticles for activating different immunological pathways (Rosenberg, 1988). Cancer vaccination is another approach to help the body fighting against cancer (Nembrini, 2011). Vaccines contain an agent that resembles a disease-causing environment and are able to improve the immunity against a particular disease. While traditional vaccines are often made from dead or weakened forms of the microbe or their toxins, nowadays the investigation is more focused on the development of new vaccines made from surface proteins and DNA of the immunogenic cells (Kalkanidis, 2006; Silva, 2013; Singh, 2007). The immune system can recognize the immunogenic molecule, keep a record of it, and more easily recognize and destroy any of the cells containing the immunogenic molecule (Signori, 2010). Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) can be used for immunotherapy through a number of mechanisms, such as blocking the function of the targeted molecules, antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity effect, inducing apoptosis in the cells expressing the target antigen, and increasing the phagocytosis of the target cells by macrophages or by modulating the signaling pathways of the target cells (Chandramohan, 2013; Ferris, 2010; Gedeon, 2014). In addition to immunotherapy, mAb can be applied for cancer targeting and diagnosis (Ma, 2013; Tao, 2012). 3.5.4.1 Nano-based Cancer Immunotherapy One of the main shortcomings of the current immunostimulatory materials is the lack of dendritic cell (DC) targeting and short time immunostimulative responses, as the concentration of the immunogenic molecules declines in the body over a short period of time. In addition, existing immunoactivating compounds mostly elicit Immunoglobulin G (IgG) isotype Ab and are not able to induce the secretion of various Ab isotypes (Mallapragada, 2008). Thereby, induced immunotherapeutic protections are not long-lasting. Accordingly, new strategies are essential to be developed for more efficient activation of the immune system against cancer. In general, the ideal properties of a good anticancer