In vitro uptake of gelatin nanoparticles by murine dendritic cells and their intracellular localisation.

The long term goal of this study is to develop an efficient nanoscopic vaccine delivery system, based on the biodegradable and natural polymer gelatin, to deliver therapeutic protein antigens along with adjuvants into dendritic cells (DCs). In this study, gelatin nanoparticles were tested for qualitative and quantitative uptake in murine DCs in vitro. A second aim of this study was to prove that the carrier system is able to deliver tetramethylrhodamine conjugated dextran (TMR-dextran), as a model drug into the DCs.