A therapeutic DC vaccine with maintained immunological activity exhibits robust anti-tumor efficacy

Progress of extracellular vesicles-based system for tumor therapy

The increasing number of new cancer cases and cancer-related deaths worldwide highlights the urgent need to develop novel anti-tumor treatment methods to alleviate the current challenging situation. Nearly all organisms are capable of secreting extracellular vesicles (EVs), and these nano-scale EVs carrying biological molecules play an important role in intercellular communication, further affecting various physiological and pathological processes. Notably, EVs from different sources have differences in their characteristics and functions. Consequently, diverse EVs have been utilized as drug or vaccine delivery carriers for improving anti-tumor treatment due to their good safety, ease of modification and unique properties, and achieved satisfactory results. Meanwhile, the clinical trials of EV-based platform for tumor therapy are also continuously being conducted. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the recent research progress of EV-based tumor treatment methods, including the introduction of main sources and unique functions of EVs, the application of EVs in tumor treatment as well as their prospects and challenges. Additionally, considering the unique advantages of artificial EVs over natural EVs, we also highlighted their characteristics and applications in tumor treatments. We believe that this review will help researchers develop novel EV-based anti-tumor platforms through a bottom-up design and accelerate the development in this field.

Advances in dendritic cell-based therapeutic tumor vaccines

Dendritic cell-based therapeutic tumor vaccines are an active immunotherapy that has been commonly tried in the clinic,traditional treatment modalities for malignant tumors, such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, have the disadvantages of high recurrence rates and side effects. The dendritic cell vaccination destroys cells from tumors by means of the patient's own system of immunity, a very promising treatment. However, due to the suppression of the tumor immune microenvironment, the difficulty of screening for optimal specific antigens, and the high technical difficulty of vaccine production. Most tumor vaccines currently available in the clinic have failed to produce significant clinical therapeutic effects. In this review, the fundamentals of therapeutic dendritic cells vaccine therapy are briefly outlined, with a focus on the progress of therapeutic Dendritic cells vaccine research in the clinic and the initiatives undertaken to enhance dendritic cell vaccinations' anti-tumor effectiveness. It is believed that through the continuous exploration of novel therapeutic strategies, therapeutic dendritic cells vaccines can play a greater role in improving tumor treatment for tumor patients.

A bioactive polysaccharide derived from Rosa laevigata fruits: Structural properties, antitumor efficacy, and potential mechanisms

A heteropolysaccharide, designated JYP70-1, was extracted and purified from the fruits of Rosa laevigata, exhibiting a molecular weight of 1.90 × 104 g/mol. Structural analysis revealed that JYP70-1 was composed of eleven sugar residues, including α-l-Araf-(1→, →3)-α-l-Araf-(1→, →5)-α-l-Araf-(1→, →3,5)-α-l-Araf-(1→, →2,5)-α-l-Araf-(1→, →4)-α-d-Galp-(1→, →6)-β-d-Galp-(1→, →6)-α-d-Glcp-(1→, α-d-Glcp-(1→, →2)-α-d-Manp-(1→, and →3,6)-β-d-Manp-(1→. Following the characterization of the primary structure and conformation of JYP70-1, a series of biological activity assessments were executed, revealing that JYP70-1 significantly inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in a concentration-dependent manner in vivo. Furthermore, a comprehensive array of experiments was strategically designed to elucidate the anti-tumor mechanisms of JYP70-1, focusing on tumor cell migration, angiogenesis, and immune modulation. The identification of the homogeneous polysaccharide JYP70-1 presents a promising candidate for therapeutic applications in oncology.

Reductive Adjuvant Nanosystem for Alleviated Atopic Dermatitis Syndromes

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a recurrent and chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by a high lifetime prevalence and significant impairment of patients' quality of life, primarily due to intense itching and discomfort. However, current pharmacological interventions provide only moderate efficacy and are frequently accompanied by adverse side effects. The immune-pathogenesis of AD involves dysregulation of the Th2 immune response and exacerbation of inflammation related to excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, to address these issues, in this study, we targeted the upstream pathogenesis by designing a pro-Th1 adjuvant nanoemulsion loaded with poly(I:C) and encapsulated with the ROS-scavenger vitamin E, termed PV-NE. PV-NE effectively rebalanced the Th1/Th2 immune response and reduced ROS levels both in vivo and ex vivo, leading to the restoration of immune balance in AD-affected skin and alleviation of symptoms such as lichenification and erythematous patches. In conclusion, our development of the reductive adjuvant nanosystem PV-NE demonstrates its biocompatibility and efficacy in combating AD progression without the use of immunosuppressant glucocorticoids. This has the potential to significantly impact the design and enhancement of pharmacotherapy in future clinical research aimed at curing AD.

CircRNA-loaded DC vaccine in combination with low-dose gemcitabine induced potent anti-tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer model

Although promising, dendritic cell (DC) vaccines may not suffice to fully inhibit tumor progression alone, mainly due to the short expression time of the antigen in DC vaccines, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and tumor antigenic modulation. Overcoming the limitations of DC vaccines is expected to further enhance their anti-tumor effects. In this study, we constructed a circRNA-loaded DC vaccine utilizing the inherent stability of circular RNA to enhance the expression level and duration of the antigen within the DC vaccine. Meanwhile we combined it with gemcitabine and validated their therapeutic efficacy in the Panc02 tumor model. We found that the use of DC vaccine alone can reach a tumor inhibition rate of 69%, and the effect was further enhanced when combined with gemcitabine, reaching a tumor inhibition rate of 89%. The combined treatment achieved a synergistic effect, which not only reduced immunosuppressive Tregs but also induced immunogenic cell death, leading to antigen spreading and reducing immune evasion caused by tumor antigenic modulation. As a result, the survival of the mice was significantly prolonged. Our research provides a promising approach for the clinical treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Immunoactivity of a hybrid membrane biosurface on nanoparticles: enhancing interactions with dendritic cells to augment anti-tumor immune responses

Nano-biointerfaces play a pivotal role in determining the functionality of engineered therapeutic nanoparticles, particularly in the context of designing nanovaccines to effectively activate immune cells for cancer immunotherapy. Unlike involving chemical reactions by conventional surface decorating strategies, cell membrane-coating technology offers a straightforward approach to endow nanoparticles with natural biosurfaces, enabling them to mimic and integrate into the intricate biosystems of the body to interact with specific cells under physiological conditions. In this study, cell membranes, in a hybrid formulation, derived from cancer and activated macrophage cells were found to enhance the interaction of nanoparticles (HMP) with dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells among the mixed immune cells from lymph nodes (LNs), which could be leveraged in the development of nanovaccines for anti-tumor therapy. After loading with an adjuvant (R837), the nanoparticles coated with a hybrid membrane (HMPR) demonstrated effectiveness in priming DCs both in vitro and in vivo, resulting in amplified anti-tumor immune responses compared to those of nanoparticles coated with a single type of membrane or those lacking a membrane coating. The elevated immunoactivity of nanoparticles achieved by incorporating a hybrid membrane biosurface provides us a more profound comprehension of the nano-immune interaction, which may significantly benefit the development of bioactive nanomaterials for advanced therapy.

A nanoemulsion targeting adipose hypertrophy and hyperplasia shows anti-obesity efficiency in female mice

Obesity often leads to severe medical complications. However, existing FDA-approved medications to combat obesity have limited effectiveness in reducing adiposity and often cause side effects. These medications primarily act on the central nervous system or disrupt fat absorption through the gastrointestinal tract. Adipose tissue enlargement involves adipose hyperplasia and hypertrophy, both of which correlate with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hyperactivated X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) in (pre)adipocytes. In this study, we demonstrate that KT-NE, a nanoemulsion loaded with the XBP1 inhibitor KIRA6 and α-Tocopherol, simultaneously alleviates aberrant endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxidative stress in (pre)adipocytes. As a result, KT-NE significantly inhibits abnormal adipogenic differentiation, reduces lipid droplet accumulation, restricts lipid droplet transfer, impedes obesity progression, and lowers the risk of obesity-associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in female mice with obesity. Furthermore, diverse administration routes of KT-NE impact its in vivo biodistribution and contribute to localized and/or systemic anti-obesity effectiveness.

Nanovaccine-based strategies for lymph node targeted delivery and imaging in tumor immunotherapy

Therapeutic tumor vaccines have attracted considerable attention in the past decade; they can induce tumor regression, eradicate minimal residual disease, establish lasting immune memory and avoid non-specific and adverse side effects. However, the challenge in the field of therapeutic tumor vaccines is ensuring the delivery of immune components to the lymph nodes (LNs) to activate immune cells. The clinical response rate of traditional therapeutic tumor vaccines falls short of expectations due to inadequate lymph node delivery. With the rapid development of nanotechnology, a large number of nanoplatform-based LN-targeting nanovaccines have been exploited for optimizing tumor immunotherapies. In addition, some nanovaccines possess non-invasive visualization performance, which is benefit for understanding the kinetics of nanovaccine exposure in LNs. Herein, we present the parameters of nanoplatforms, such as size, surface modification, shape, and deformability, which affect the LN-targeting functions of nanovaccines. The recent advances in nanoplatforms with different components promoting LN-targeting are also summarized. Furthermore, emerging LNs-targeting nanoplatform-mediated imaging strategies to both improve targeting performance and enhance the quality of LN imaging are discussed. Finally, we summarize the prospects and challenges of nanoplatform-based LN-targeting and /or imaging strategies, which optimize the clinical efficacy of nanovaccines in tumor immunotherapies.

Strategy and application of manipulating DCs chemotaxis in disease treatment and vaccine design

As the most versatile antigen-presenting cells (APCs), dendritic cells (DCs) function as the cardinal commanders in orchestrating innate and adaptive immunity for either eliciting protective immune responses against canceration and microbial invasion or maintaining immune homeostasis/tolerance. In fact, in physiological or pathological conditions, the diversified migratory patterns and exquisite chemotaxis of DCs, prominently manipulate their biological activities in both secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs) as well as homeostatic/inflammatory peripheral tissues in vivo. Thus, the inherent mechanisms or regulation strategies to modulate the directional migration of DCs even could be regarded as the crucial cartographers of the immune system. Herein, we systemically reviewed the existing mechanistic understandings and regulation measures of trafficking both endogenous DC subtypes and reinfused DCs vaccines towards either SLOs or inflammatory foci (including neoplastic lesions, infections, acute/chronic tissue inflammations, autoimmune diseases and graft sites). Furthermore, we briefly introduced the DCs-participated prophylactic and therapeutic clinical application against disparate diseases, and also provided insights into the future clinical immunotherapies development as well as the vaccines design associated with modulating DCs mobilization modes.

Pushing the envelope: Immune mechanism and application landscape of macrophage-activating lipopeptide-2

Mycoplasma fermentans can cause respiratory diseases, arthritis, genitourinary tract infections, and chronic fatigue syndrome and have been linked to the development of the human immunodeficiency virus. Because mycoplasma lacks a cell wall, its outer membrane lipoproteins are one of the main factors that induce inflammation in the organism and contribute to disease development. Macrophage-activating lipopeptide-2 (MALP-2) modulates the inflammatory response of monocytes/macrophages in a bidirectional fashion, indirectly enhances the cytotoxicity of NK cells, promotes oxidative bursts in neutrophils, upregulates surface markers on lymphocytes, enhances antigen presentation on dendritic cells and induces immune inflammatory responses in sebocytes and mesenchymal cells. MALP-2 is a promising vaccine adjuvant for this application. It also promotes vascular healing and regeneration, accelerates wound and bone healing, suppresses tumors and metastasis, and reduces lung infections and inflammation. MALP-2 has a simple structure, is easy to synthesize, and has promising prospects for clinical application. Therefore, this paper reviews the mechanisms of MALP-2 activation in immune cells, focusing on the application of MALP-2 in animals/humans to provide a basis for the study of pathogenesis in Mycoplasma fermentans and the translation of MALP-2 into clinical applications.