Local delivery of superagonist gene based on polymer nanoparticles for cancer immunotherapy

Cancer is the leading cause that threatens human life expectancy due to the lack of effective therapies.Cancer immunotherapy has been explored to improve the body's immune system against cancer and accompanied by promising results in recent years.Interleukin 15(IL-15),a pleiotropic immunomodulator,is critical for immune cells development and displays great anti-tumor potential in both preclinical and clinical trials.In this study,superagonist IL-15 plasmid(psIL-15)consisting of IL-15Rα-sushi-linker-IL-15 was constructed in order to secret superagonist IL-15(sIL-15)in tumor site.A gene delivery system through self-assembly by methylated polyethylene glycol-b-polylactic acid-b-methylated polyethylene glycol(m PEG-PLA-m PEG)and 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane(DOTAP),named DMAM,was designed to deliver psIL-15.Further study showed that DMAM/psIL-15 could successfully deliver psIL-15 to tumor cells and the supernatants of the tumor cells could further stimulate lymphocytes proliferation as well as activation in vitro.Local delivery of DMAM/psIL-15 in animal models demonstrated significant tumor inhibition through enhancing immune cells responses,reducing angiogenesis,promoting tumor cell apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation,with no evidence of system toxicities.These results indicate that DMAM/psIL-15 may be a promising strategy for cancer immunotherapy.

A BRD4 PROTAC nanodrug for glioma therapy via the intervention of tumor cells proliferation,apoptosis and M2 macrophages polarization

Glioma is a primary aggressive brain tumor with high recurrence rate.The poor efficiency of chemotherapeutic drugs crossing the blood-brain barrier(BBB) is well-known as one of the main challenges for anti-glioma therapy.Moreover,massive infiltrated tumor-associated macrophages(TAMs) in glioma further thwart the drug efficacy.Herein,a therapeutic nanosystem(SPP-ARV-825) is constructed by incorporating the BRD4-degrading proteolytic targeting chimera(PROTAC) ARV-825 into the complex micelle(SPP) composed of substance P(SP) peptide-modified poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactic acid)(SP-PEG-PDLL A) and methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lac tic acid)(mPEG-PDLL A,PP),which could penetrate BBB and target brain tumor.Subsequently,released drug engenders antitumor effect via attenuating cells proliferation,inducing cells apoptosis and suppressing M2 macrophages polarization through the inhibition of IRF4 promoter transcription and phosphorylation of STAT6,STAT3 and AKT.Taken together,our work demonstrates the versatile role and therapeutic efficacy of SPP-ARV-825 micelle against glioma,which may provide a novel strategy for glioma therapy in future.

Dual-responsive nanoparticles with transformable shape and reversible charge for amplified chemo-photodynamic therapy of breast cancer

Herein, we designed a dual-response shape transformation and charge reversal strategy with chemo-photodynamic therapy to improve the blood circulation time, tumor penetration and retention,which finally enhanced the anti-tumor effect. In the system, hydrophobic photosensitizer chlorin e6(Ce6), hydrophilic chemotherapeutic drug berberrubine(BBR) and matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2) response peptide(PLGVRKLVFF) were coupled by linkers to form a linear triblock molecule BBR-PLGVRKLVFF-Ce6(BPC), which can self-assemble into nanoparticles. Then, positively charged BPC and polyethylene glycol-histidine(PEG-His) were mixed to form PEG-His@BPC with negative surface charge and long blood circulation time. Due to the acidic tumor microenvironment, the PEG shell was detached from PEG-His@BPC attributing to protonation of the histidine, which achieved charge reversal, size reduction and enhanced tumor penetration. At the same time, enzyme cutting site was exposed, and the spherical nanoparticles could transform into nanofibers following the enzymolysis by MMP-2, while BBR was released to kill tumors by inducing apoptosis. Compared with original nanoparticles, the nanofibers with photosensitizer Ce6 retained within tumor site for a longer time. Collectively,we provided a good example to fully use the intrinsic properties of different drugs and linkers to construct tumor microenvironment-responsive charge reversal and shape transformable nanoparticles with synergistic antitumor effect.

Co-delivery of doxorubicin and curcumin via cRGD-peptide modified PEG-PLA self-assembly nanomicelles for lung cancer therapy

Lung cancer is the most common malignancy in the world, with a high mortality rate. Nevertheless,therapies to act effectively against lung cancer remain elusive. So far, chemotherapy is still the frontline treatment of lung cancer. Doxorubicin(DOX) is a broad-spectrum anti-tumor drug. However, DOX often has serious side effects and causes multi-drug resistance, which greatly limits its clinical application.In this work, biodegradable methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactic acid)(MPEG-PLA) and cyclo(ArgGly-Asp-D-Phe-Lys)(c RGD) polypeptide modified PEG-PLA(c RGD-PEG-PLA) copolymers were used for the co-delivery of curcumin(CUR) and DOX(CUR-DOX/c RGD-M). The particle size of the self-assembled drugloaded nanomicelle approximately was 27.4 nm and the zeta potential was -2.7mV. Interestingly, CUR can enhance the uptake of DOX by Lewis lung carcinoma(LL/2) cells. The experimental results in vivo and in vitro showed that CUR-DOX/c RGD-M combination therapy could promote apoptosis of lung cancer cells, and conspicuously inhibit the tumor growth. Our data indicate that CUR-DOX/c RGD-M will be biodegradable and sustainable, which may have potential clinical application value in the treatment of lung cancer.

Immunostimulatory gene therapy combined with checkpoint blockade reshapes tumor microenvironment and enhances ovarian cancer immunotherapy

Immune evasion has made ovarian cancer notorious for its refractory features, making the development of immunotherapy highly appealing to ovarian cancer treatment. The immune-stimulating cytokine IL-12 exhibits excellent antitumor activities. However, IL-12 can induce IFN-γ release and subsequently upregulate PDL-1 expression on tumor cells. Therefore, the tumor-targeting folate-modified delivery system F-DPC is constructed for concurrent delivery of IL-12 encoding gene and small molecular PDL-1 inhibitor(i PDL-1) to reduce immune escape and boost anti-tumor immunity. The physicochemical characteristics, gene transfection efficiency of the F-DPC nanoparticles in ovarian cancer cells are analyzed. The immune-modulation effects of combination therapy on different immune cells are also studied. Results show that compared with non-folate-modified vector, folate-modified F-DPC can improve the targeting of ovarian cancer and enhance the transfection efficiency of p IL-12. The underlying anti-tumor mechanisms include the regulation of T cells proliferation and activation, NK activation,macrophage polarization and DC maturation. The F-DPC/p IL-12/i PDL-1 complexes have shown outstanding antitumor effects and low toxicity in peritoneal model of ovarian cancer in mice. Taken together, our work provides new insights into ovarian cancer immunotherapy. Novel F-DPC/p IL-12/i PDL-1 complexes are revealed to exert prominent anti-tumor effect by modulating tumor immune microenvironment and preventing immune escape and might be a promising treatment option for ovarian cancer treatment.

A folic acid-decorated nanoparticles loaded JQ1 for oral squamous cell carcinoma therapy

Oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC)is known as one of the most malignant tumors with high recurrence and fatality rate.The poor tumor-targeting ability of traditional chemotherapeutic drugs has been a grand challenge for anti-OSCC therapy.Beyond that,a large quantity of tumor associated macrophages in OSCC tissues further diminish the anti-tumor effects of these drugs.Therefore,we produced a therapeutic nano drug delivery system(FA-PEG-PLA-JQ1)through encapsulating JQ1[a small-molecule inhibitor of bromodomain containing protein 4(BRD4)]into the folic acid(FA)-modified nanoparticle(PEG-PLA),which could prolong the half-life of JQ1 and target the tumor tissues.And then,JQ1 released from this nanoparticle could prevent OSCC growth inducing tumor cell apoptosis,inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and the polarization of M2 type macrophages.In conclusion,our date demonstrated the therapeutic benefits of FA-PEG-PLA-JQ1 against OSCC in vivo or in vitro,which could be a novel treatment strategy for OSCC in coming days.

Enhancing metformin-induced tumor metabolism destruction by glucose oxidase for triple-combination therapy

Despite decades of laboratory and clinical trials,breast cancer remains the main cause of cancer-related disease burden in women.Considering the metabolism destruction effect of metformin(Met)and cancer cell starvation induced by glucose oxidase(GOx),after their efficient delivery to tumor sites,GOx and Met may consume a large amount of glucose and produce sufficient hydrogen peroxide in situ.Herein,a pH-responsive epigallocatechin gallate(EGCG)-conjugated low-molecular-weight chitosan(LC-EGCG,LE)nanoparticle(Met–GOx/Fe@LE NPs)was constructed.The coordination between iron ions(Fe3+)and EGCG in this nanoplatform can enhance the efficacy of chemodynamic therapy via the Fenton reaction.Met–GOx/Fe@LE NPs allow GOx to retain its enzymatic activity while simultaneously improving its stability.Moreover,this pH-responsive nanoplatform presents controllable drug release behavior.An in vivo biodistribution study showed that the intracranial accumulation of GOx delivered by this nanoplatform was 3.6-fold higher than that of the free drug.The in vivo anticancer results indicated that this metabolism destruction/starvation/chemodynamic triple-combination therapy could induce increased apoptosis/death of tumor cells and reduce their proliferation.This triple-combination therapy approach is promising for efficient and targeted cancer treatment.