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Oversimplified immunology is holding biomaterials back

Nature Reviews Bioengineering volume 3, pages 523–525 (2025)Cite this article

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Immune responses are complex, often defying rigid classifications. Instead of interpreting results according to reductionist categories, researchers should rely on comprehensive single-cell data to guide analysis and should remain open to unexpected immunological complexity.

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Fig. 1: Recommendations for studying the immune response to biomaterials.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) through grant R01 DE031488 (H.-Q.M. and J.C.D.), NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering grant P41EB028239 (J.P.S. and H.-Q.M.), NIH National Cancer Institute grant R33CA278429 (J.P.S.), and NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grant F31DE032900 (J.L.S.), as well as by the Biomedical Engineering Department at Johns Hopkins University (J.C.D.). J.L.S. was also supported by an ARCS Foundation Metropolitan Washington Chapter scholar award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jessica L. Stelzel, Jonathan P. Schneck, Hai-Quan Mao & Joshua C. Doloff

  2. Translational Tissue Engineering Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jessica L. Stelzel, Hai-Quan Mao & Joshua C. Doloff

  3. Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jessica L. Stelzel, Hai-Quan Mao & Joshua C. Doloff

  4. Institute for Cell Engineering, Program in Human Immunology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jonathan P. Schneck

  5. Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jonathan P. Schneck

  6. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jonathan P. Schneck

  7. Department of Oncology, Division of Cancer Immunology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jonathan P. Schneck & Joshua C. Doloff

  8. Sidney-Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jonathan P. Schneck & Joshua C. Doloff

  9. Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jonathan P. Schneck & Joshua C. Doloff

  10. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Hai-Quan Mao & Joshua C. Doloff

Authors
  1. Jessica L. Stelzel
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  2. Jonathan P. Schneck
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  3. Hai-Quan Mao
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  4. Joshua C. Doloff
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joshua C. Doloff.

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Nature Reviews Bioengineering thanks Alessandra Cambi, Diana Boraschi and Eric Appel for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Stelzel, J.L., Schneck, J.P., Mao, HQ. et al. Oversimplified immunology is holding biomaterials back. Nat Rev Bioeng 3, 523–525 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00320-7

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