## 2 Progress in Various Nanotechnology Disciplines
### Nanotherapeutics
#### NanoVaccines and Therapies  
[PERSON] (University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT) presented his team's research creating 3D microstructures of biodegradable polymers for developing single-administered vaccines and converting the biopolymers into \"smart\" piezoelectric nanomaterials, which can generate electricity under deformation and vice versa, offering a variety of exciting applications in biodegradable force sensors, tissue-engineering scaffolds, and medical transducers [42; 43; 44; 45]. Bioresorbable and biocompatible smart polymers can be used as medical suture materials, biosensors, and tissue engineering scaffold by changing their form, shape, or structure at the micro- and nanoscale level. Common vaccines, such as polio vaccine and hepatitis B vaccine, require three injections, while insulin for diabetes and growth hormone therapy require injections on a daily basis. Multiple injections of drugs have many disadvantages; they are painful and inconvenient for patients, produce a large amount of biohazard waste, need special transportation and storage facilities, and often cause recurrence of infections. Polymers like polylactic acid (PLA) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) can be used for developing a single injection multi pulse drug delivery system where a drug is loaded inside the resorbable PLGA shell in an injection and these core shell micro particles will be released at different time points in a multi burst release fashion. This delivery method still requires injection, and another problem is the presence of large particles in the injection which can be surmounted by the SEAL (StampEd assembly of polymer layers) technique. SEAL is a filling free, high throughput, automatable fabrication method to produce microneedles for the injection of free and single administration of vaccines. Here drugs are aligned and loaded into core shell biodegradable microneedles depending on molding and computer chip alignment-based processes. This kind of microneedle has been developed for a pneumonia vaccine, which has shown better immune response and percent survival rate compared to the commercially available vaccine PREVNAR. Currently existing pressure sensors require invasive removal of the implanted device because of their nondegradable nature. However, in recent work biodegradable PLGA has been converted into piezoelectric nanofibers which can be used as a biosensor for detecting pressure in different areas (intra-cranium, cartilage, intra-abdomen, etc.) of the body. [PERSON] (Mercer University, Atlanta, GA) discussed his work on the design and delivery of nano- and micro-particulate vaccines, delivered transcendermally via microneedles for both infectious diseases and cancers. This innovative, inexpensive, and painless method of vaccine delivery technology is rather broad based and can be used to administer multiple vaccines in a single vaccine patch applied to the skin much like a \"band-aid-patch\" [46]. On the infectious disease vaccine front, they have been working on nano- and micro-particulate vaccines for several infectious diseases such as (a) universal influenza, (b) HPV, (c) RSV, and (d) gonorrhea vaccines designed for delivery via microneedles [47]. The vaccine antigen was formulated into microparticles with the aid of a spray dryer, using bio-degradable and bio-compatible matrices [48]. These vaccine particles were then incorporated into micro-needles for delivery via the transdermal route. Animals were challenged with live virus/bacteria to determine the level of protective immunity developed after vaccination. Further, the team examined the expression of co-stimulatory molecules that impact antigen presentation in human macrophages pulsed with the antigen. The up-regulation of other co-stimulatory molecules such as CD-40 and CD-80 was also determined. In conclusion, the novel particulate vaccines are robustly taken up by antigen presenting cells and up-regulate co-stimulatory molecules that enhance antigen presentation, which is a pre-requisite for inducing adaptive immunity.