CD47KO/CRT dual-bioengineered cell membrane-coated nanovaccine combined with anti-PD-L1 antibody for boosting tumor immunotherapy

Dual-Targeted Self-Adjuvant Heterocyclic Lipidoid@Polyester Hybrid Nanovaccines for Boosting Cancer Immunotherapy

Tumor vaccines have demonstrated a modest response rate, primarily attributed to their inefficient delivery to dendritic cells (DCs), low cross-presentation, DC-intrinsic immunosuppressive signals, and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, draining lymph node (DLN)-targeted and tumor-targeted nanovaccines were proposed to address these limitations, and heterocyclic lipidoid (A18) and polyester (BR647) were synthesized to achieve dual-targeted cancer immunotherapy. Meanwhile, oligo hyaluronic acid (HA) and DMG-PEG2000-Mannose were incorporated to prepare dual-targeted nanovaccines encapsulated with STAT3 siRNA and model antigens. The nanovaccines were designed to target the DLN and the tumor, facilitating the delivery of cargo into the cytoplasm. These dual-targeted nanovaccines improved antigen presentation and DC maturation, activated the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway, enhanced the pro-apoptotic effect, and stimulated antitumor immune responses. Additionally, these dual-targeted nanovaccines overcame immunosuppressive TME, reduced immunosuppressive cells, and promoted the polarization of tumor-associated neutrophils from N2 to N1. Among the four dual-targeted nanovaccines that induced robust antitumor responses, the heterocyclic lipidoid@polyester hybrid nanovaccines (MALO@HBNS) demonstrated the most promising results. Furthermore, a combination strategy involving MALO@HBNS and an anti-PD-L1 antibody exhibited an immensely powerful anticancer role. This work introduced a dual-targeted nanovaccine platform for antitumor treatment, suggesting its potential combination with an immune checkpoint blockade as a comprehensive anticancer strategy.

Boosting Checkpoint Immunotherapy with Biomimetic Nanodrug Delivery Systems

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has achieved unprecedented progress in tumor immunotherapy by blocking specific immune checkpoint molecules. However, the high biodistribution of the drug prevents it from specifically targeting tumor tissues, leading to immune-related adverse events. Biomimetic nanodrug delivery systems (BNDSs) readily applicable to ICB therapy have been widely developed at the preclinical stage to avoid immune-related adverse events. By exploiting or mimicking complex biological structures, the constructed BNDS as a novel drug delivery system has good biocompatibility and certain tumor-targeting properties. Herein, the latest findings regarding the aforementioned therapies associated with ICB therapy are highlighted. Simultaneously, prospective bioinspired engineering strategies can be designed to overcome the four-level barriers to drug entry into lesion sites. In future clinical translation, BNDS-based ICB combination therapy represents a promising avenue for cancer treatment.

Recent advances in living cell nucleic acid probes based on nanomaterials for early cancer diagnosis

The early diagnosis of cancer is vital for effective treatment and improved prognosis. Tumor biomarkers, which can be used for the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic evaluation of cancer, have emerged as a topic of intense research interest in recent years. Nucleic acid, as a type of tumor biomarker, contains vital genetic information, which is of great significance for the occurrence and development of cancer. Currently, living cell nucleic acid probes, which enable the in situ imaging and dynamic monitoring of nucleic acids, have become a rapidly developing field. This review focuses on living cell nucleic acid probes that can be used for the early diagnosis of tumors. We describe the fundamental design of the probe in terms of three units and focus on the roles of different nanomaterials in probe delivery.

Immunogenic Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Endoplasmic Reticulum-Stressed Tumor Cells: Implications as the Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine

Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (TDEs) have potential for therapeutic cancer vaccine applications since they innately possess tumor-associated antigens, mediate antigen presentation, and can incorporate immune adjuvants for enhanced vaccine efficacy. However, the original TDEs also contain immune-suppressive proteins. To address this, we proposed a simple yet powerful preconditioning method to improve the overall immunogenicity of the TDEs. This approach involved inducing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress on parental tumor cells via N-glycosylation inhibition with tunicamycin. The generated immunogenic TDEs (iTDEs) contained down-regulated immunosuppressive proteins and up-regulated immune adjuvants, effectively activating dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro. Furthermore, in vivo evidence from a tumor-bearing mouse model showed that iTDEs activated DCs, enabling cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to target tumors, and eventually established a systemic antitumor immune response. Additionally, iTDEs significantly delayed tumor recurrence in a postsurgery model compared with control groups. These findings highlight the immense potential of our strategy for utilizing TDEs to develop effective cancer vaccines.

Amplifying "eat me signal" by immunogenic cell death for potentiating cancer immunotherapy

Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a unique mode of cell death, which can release immunogenic damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and tumor-associated antigens to trigger long-term protective antitumor immune responses. Thus, amplifying "eat me signal" during tumor ICD cascade is critical for cancer immunotherapy. Some therapies (radiotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), etc.) and inducers (chemotherapeutic agents, etc.) have enabled to initiate and/or facilitate ICD and activate antitumor immune responses. Recently, nanostructure-based drug delivery systems have been synthesized for inducing ICD through combining treatment of chemotherapeutic agents, photosensitizers for PDT, photothermal transformation agents for PTT, radiosensitizers for radiotherapy, etc., which can release loaded agents at an appropriate dosage in the designated place at the appropriate time, contributing to higher efficiency and lower toxicity. Also, immunotherapeutic agents in combination with nanostructure-based drug delivery systems can produce synergetic antitumor effects, thus potentiating immunotherapy. Overall, our review outlines the emerging ICD inducers, and nanostructure drug delivery systems loading diverse agents to evoke ICD through chemoradiotherapy, PDT, and PTT or combining immunotherapeutic agents. Moreover, we discuss the prospects and challenges of harnessing ICD induction-based immunotherapy, and highlight the significance of multidisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration to promote the optimal translation of this treatment strategy.

Hyperbranched Polymer-Based Vaccines for Cancer Immunotherapy

Recently, several immunotherapeutic strategies are extensively studied and entered clinical investigation, suggesting their potential to lead a new generation of cancer therapy. Particularly, a cancer vaccine that combines tumor-associated antigens and immune adjuvants with a nanocarrier holds huge promise for inducing specific antitumor immune responses. Hyperbranched polymers, such as dendrimers and branched polyethylenimine (PEI) possessing abundant positively charged amine groups and inherent proton sponge effect are ideal carriers of antigens. Much effort is devoted to design dendrimer/branched PEI-based cancer vaccines. Herein, the recent advances in the design of dendrimer/branched PEI-based cancer vaccines for immunotherapy are reviewed. The future perspectives with regard to the development of dendrimer/branched PEI-based cancer vaccines are also briefly discussed.

Lipid-hybrid cell-derived biomimetic functional materials: A state-of-the-art multifunctional weapon against tumors

Tumors are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Cell-derived biomimetic functional materials have shown great promise in the treatment of tumors. These materials are derived from cell membranes, extracellular vesicles and bacterial outer membrane vesicles and may evade immune recognition, improve drug targeting and activate antitumor immunity. However, their use is limited owing to their low drug-loading capacity and complex preparation methods. Liposomes are artificial bionic membranes that have high drug-loading capacity and can be prepared and modified easily. Although they can overcome the disadvantages of cell-derived biomimetic functional materials, they lack natural active targeting ability. Lipids can be hybridized with cell membranes, extracellular vesicles or bacterial outer membrane vesicles to form lipid-hybrid cell-derived biomimetic functional materials. These materials negate the disadvantages of both liposomes and cell-derived components and represent a promising delivery platform in the treatment of tumors. This review focuses on the design strategies, applications and mechanisms of action of lipid-hybrid cell-derived biomimetic functional materials and summarizes the prospects of their further development and the challenges associated with it.

Genetically Engineered-Cell-Membrane Nanovesicles for Cancer Immunotherapy

The advent of immunotherapy has marked a new era in cancer treatment, offering significant clinical benefits. Cell membrane as drug delivery materials has played a crucial role in enhancing cancer therapy because of their inherent biocompatibility and negligible immunogenicity. Different cell membranes are prepared into cell membrane nanovesicles (CMNs), but CMNs have limitations such as inefficient targeting ability, low efficacy, and unpredictable side effects. Genetic engineering has deepened the critical role of CMNs in cancer immunotherapy, enabling genetically engineered-CMN (GCMN)-based therapeutics. To date, CMNs that are surface modified by various functional proteins have been developed through genetic engineering. Herein, a brief overview of surface engineering strategies for CMNs and the features of various membrane sources is discussed, followed by a description of GCMN preparation methods. The application of GCMNs in cancer immunotherapy directed at different immune targets is addressed as are the challenges and prospects of GCMNs in clinical translation.

Biomimetic Cell-Derived Nanoparticles: Emerging Platforms for Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy can significantly prevent tumor growth and metastasis by activating the autoimmune system without destroying normal cells. Although cancer immunotherapy has made some achievements in clinical cancer treatment, it is still restricted by systemic immunotoxicity, immune cell dysfunction, cancer heterogeneity, and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITME). Biomimetic cell-derived nanoparticles are attracting considerable interest due to their better biocompatibility and lower immunogenicity. Moreover, biomimetic cell-derived nanoparticles can achieve different preferred biological effects due to their inherent abundant source cell-relevant functions. This review summarizes the latest developments in biomimetic cell-derived nanoparticles for cancer immunotherapy, discusses the applications of each biomimetic system in cancer immunotherapy, and analyzes the challenges for clinical transformation.

Overcoming Suppressive Tumor Microenvironment by Vaccines in Solid Tumor

Conventional vaccines are widely used to boost human natural ability to defend against foreign invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. Recently, therapeutic cancer vaccines attracted the most attention for anti-cancer therapy. According to the main components, it can be divided into five types: cell, DNA, RNA, peptide, and virus-based vaccines. They mainly perform through two rationales: (1) it trains the host immune system to protect itself and effectively eradicate cancer cells; (2) these vaccines expose the immune system to molecules associated with cancer that enable the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. In this review, we thoroughly summarized the potential strategies and technologies for developing cancer vaccines, which may provide critical achievements for overcoming the suppressive tumor microenvironment through vaccines in solid tumors.