{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/127387"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/127387","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Engineering dendritic cells for enhanced cancer immunotherapy","abstract":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2026-12-01","abstract_html":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2026-12-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Han, Joonsu"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Materials Science & Engr","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wang, Hua","Leal, Cecilia","Chen, Qian","Harley, Brenden","Nie, Shuming"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-12-05","date_published":"2024-12-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:04Z","subjects":["Cancer Immunotherapy","Biomaterials","Dendritic Cell","Dc Engineering"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2024 Joonsu Han"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127387","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Wang, Hua","Leal, Cecilia","Chen, Qian","Harley, Brenden","Nie, Shuming"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Han, Joonsu"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2024-12-05","2024-12"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Materials Science & Engr"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Cancer Immunotherapy","Biomaterials","Dendritic Cell","Dc Engineering"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2024 Joonsu Han"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127387"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2026-12-01","The student, Joonsu Han, accepted the attached license on 2024-12-03 at 08:09.","The student, Joonsu Han, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-12-03 at 08:25.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-12-05 at 16:31.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21466 on 2025-03-28 at 14:44:18","Therapeutic cancer vaccines consist of two key components: a tumor antigen and an adjuvant. The tumor antigen is presented by dendritic cells (DCs), while the adjuvant activates DCs to prime T cells. Currently, there are only five FDA-approved adjuvants, offering limited options. Tumor antigens, however, can be sourced through various methods, such as extracellular vesicles, which takes a few days, or peptide sequencing, which may take several weeks. More advanced methods like tumor antigen-encoding mRNA synthesis offer greater specificity but require more time, often six weeks or longer. This trade-off between the speed of vaccine production and specificity poses a challenge, as many cancer patients cannot afford delays in treatment. Thus, it is crucial to develop various therapeutic cancer vaccine platforms that enable both timely and effective treatment across a broad range of cancer cases. In response to this need for innovative and versatile cancer vaccine platforms, my Ph.D. research focuses on developing novel strategies for engineering DCs with various tumor antigen sources to create potent cancer immunotherapies. The upcoming chapters are structured to achieve several key objectives. Chapter 1 investigates the use of cationic α-helical polypeptides as delivery vehicles for tumor antigen-encoding mRNAs, aiming to activate DCs during the delivery process. Chapter 2 examines how unnatural sugars can modify the biophysical properties of dendritic cell membranes, leading to DC activation and enhancing their capacity to process and present tumor antigen peptides, thereby contributing to the development of improved DC vaccines. Chapter 3 details the development of a bioadhesive macroporous hydrogel designed to attract and reprogram DCs in situ using tumor extracellular vesicles, enabling them to effectively elicit cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses against cancer. Together, these efforts to develop cancer vaccine platforms through various strategies for engineering DCs offer comprehensive, potent, and safe cancer immunotherapies that we hope will ultimately translate into clinical applications to benefit cancer patients. Beyond DC engineering for developing cancer vaccines, I have also explored material-tissue interactions. Chapter 4 discovers a novel bio-adhesion chemistry that enables double crosslinking between materials and tissue surfaces, broadening design options for bioadhesives to ensure stable adhesion. Lastly, chapter 5 demonstrates an adaptive surgical adhesive inspired by the protective mechanisms of plant seed coatings, which responds to anastomotic leaks, presenting a promising sealant for gastrointestinal surgeries."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Engineering dendritic cells for enhanced cancer immunotherapy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Wang, Hua","Leal, Cecilia","Chen, Qian","Harley, Brenden","Nie, Shuming"],"dc:creator":["Han, Joonsu"],"dc:date":["2024-12-05","2024-12"],"dc:description":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2026-12-01","The student, Joonsu Han, accepted the attached license on 2024-12-03 at 08:09.","The student, Joonsu Han, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2024-12-03 at 08:25.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2024-12-05 at 16:31.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21466 on 2025-03-28 at 14:44:18","Therapeutic cancer vaccines consist of two key components: a tumor antigen and an adjuvant. The tumor antigen is presented by dendritic cells (DCs), while the adjuvant activates DCs to prime T cells. Currently, there are only five FDA-approved adjuvants, offering limited options. Tumor antigens, however, can be sourced through various methods, such as extracellular vesicles, which takes a few days, or peptide sequencing, which may take several weeks. More advanced methods like tumor antigen-encoding mRNA synthesis offer greater specificity but require more time, often six weeks or longer. This trade-off between the speed of vaccine production and specificity poses a challenge, as many cancer patients cannot afford delays in treatment. Thus, it is crucial to develop various therapeutic cancer vaccine platforms that enable both timely and effective treatment across a broad range of cancer cases. In response to this need for innovative and versatile cancer vaccine platforms, my Ph.D. research focuses on developing novel strategies for engineering DCs with various tumor antigen sources to create potent cancer immunotherapies. The upcoming chapters are structured to achieve several key objectives. Chapter 1 investigates the use of cationic α-helical polypeptides as delivery vehicles for tumor antigen-encoding mRNAs, aiming to activate DCs during the delivery process. Chapter 2 examines how unnatural sugars can modify the biophysical properties of dendritic cell membranes, leading to DC activation and enhancing their capacity to process and present tumor antigen peptides, thereby contributing to the development of improved DC vaccines. Chapter 3 details the development of a bioadhesive macroporous hydrogel designed to attract and reprogram DCs in situ using tumor extracellular vesicles, enabling them to effectively elicit cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses against cancer. Together, these efforts to develop cancer vaccine platforms through various strategies for engineering DCs offer comprehensive, potent, and safe cancer immunotherapies that we hope will ultimately translate into clinical applications to benefit cancer patients. Beyond DC engineering for developing cancer vaccines, I have also explored material-tissue interactions. Chapter 4 discovers a novel bio-adhesion chemistry that enables double crosslinking between materials and tissue surfaces, broadening design options for bioadhesives to ensure stable adhesion. Lastly, chapter 5 demonstrates an adaptive surgical adhesive inspired by the protective mechanisms of plant seed coatings, which responds to anastomotic leaks, presenting a promising sealant for gastrointestinal surgeries."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127387"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2024 Joonsu Han"],"dc:subject":["Cancer Immunotherapy","Biomaterials","Dendritic Cell","Dc Engineering"],"dc:title":["Engineering dendritic cells for enhanced cancer immunotherapy"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Materials Science & Engr"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:04Z"}