Perspective: Harnessing chiral nanomaterials to transform cancer immunotherapy
Emerging insights reveal nanoscale chirality as a powerful lever to program immune responses and guide translational cancer nanomedicine
image: Schematic illustrating the “Design-Validate-Translate” framework for applying chiral nanomaterials in cancer immunotherapy. Created in BioRender.
Credit: ©Science Bulletin
In a recent Perspective published in Science Bulletin, researchers discuss how chiral nanomaterials could revolutionize cancer immunotherapy. Unlike conventional nanomaterials, left- and right-handed nanostructures can influence dendritic cell maturation, antigen presentation, and T cell activation, suggesting that nanoscale chirality is a critical, tunable parameter for immune modulation. The authors propose a multi-scale "Design-Validate-Translate" framework to systematically bridge material engineering with biological function and clinical translation. By integrating molecular, nanoscale, and cellular-level design with functional validation and safety evaluation, this approach aims to achieve predictable, reproducible, and durable immunomodulatory effects. This Perspective emphasizes the importance of understanding multiscale information flow and the dynamic interpretation of chirality in biological environments. It highlights opportunities for chiral nanomaterials as adjuvants in cancer vaccines, tumor-targeted delivery agents, and synergistic partners with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or metabolic checkpoint blockade.
About the Institutions: The State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (LoFE) at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications focuses on advanced nanomaterials and their biomedical applications. The University of Macau Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine develops innovative strategies for precision oncology.