Nanosystems for simultaneous imaging and drug delivery to T cells

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Abstract
The T-cell response defines the pathogenesis of many common chronic disease states, including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and transplant rejection. Therefore, a diagnostic strategy that visualizes this response can potentially lead to early therapeutic intervention, avoiding catastrophic organ failure or prolonged sickness. In addition, the means to deliver a drug dose to those cells in situ with the same specificity used to image those cells would provide for a powerful therapeutic alternative for many disease states involving T cells. In this report, we review emerging nanosystems that can be used for simultaneous tracking and drug delivery to those cells. Because of their versatility, these systems—which combine specific receptor targeting with an imaging agent and drug delivery—are suited to both basic science and applications, from developing therapeutic strategies for autoimmune and alloimmune diseases, to noninvasive tracking of pathogenic T-cell migration.