Event
CHBE Seminar: Kristy Ainslie, UNC
Friday, May 8, 2026
11:00 a.m.
Room 2108 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
Patricia Lorenzana
301-405-1935
plorenza@umd.edu
“Engineering Tolerance: Acetalated Dextran Microparticles in the Generation of B-regs and T-regs”
Abstract: Autoimmune diseases affect ~10% of the global population, and current treatments are often broadly immunosuppressive and rarely curative. To advance antigen-specific therapy that preserves protective immunity while addressing B-cell dysregulation, we developed an approach that pairs antigen-loaded acetalated dextran microparticles (AMPs) with B cells and leverages interactions with dendritic cells (DCs). We show that AMPs are efficiently taken up by DCs and associate with B cells in vivo, and that AMP-treated B cells acquire tolerogenic features, enhance antigen presentation, and promote expansion of regulatory T cells. Building on this mechanism, we generated B cells associated with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide–loaded AMPs (MOG-AMP-Bs) and evaluated them in a late-stage therapeutic model of multiple sclerosis. Treatment with MOG-AMP-Bs produced marked clinical recovery, reduced immune activation, and increased regulatory T-cell and B-cell populations, supporting this platform as a promising antigen-specific strategy to restore immune balance in autoimmune disease.
Bio: Dr. Ainslie is a Eshelman Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, with affiliations in the UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and UNC Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Her lab focuses on immunoengineering to prevent and treat cancer, as well as infectious and autoimmune diseases. After completing a PhD in chemical engineering and a post doc in biomedical engineering, she started at Ohio State University in 2009 and moved to UNC in 2014. She has over 100 peer reviewed publications, 8 patents, and has received $27M in federal funding as principal investigator to support her work. Her research has helped to shine a light on how polymer properties can tune immune responses for infectious disease vaccines, autoimmune therapies and glioblastoma immunotherapy. She is a Controlled Release Society and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow. She sits on the Journal of Controlled Release and International Journal of Pharmaceutics editorial board. Also, she has received the Sato Memorial International Award for her work in drug delivery.
