2. Academic Validation
  3. An amphiphilic dendrimer as a light-activable immunological adjuvant for in situ cancer vaccination

An amphiphilic dendrimer as a light-activable immunological adjuvant for in situ cancer vaccination

  • Nat Commun. 2021 Aug 16;12(1):4964. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25197-z.
Yongchao Wang  # 1 2 3,  Ningqiang Gong  # 4 5,  Chi Ma 1,  Yuxuan Zhang 2 3,  Hong Tan 2 3 6,  Guangchao Qing 2 3,  Jimei Zhang 2 3,  Yufei Wang 2 3,  Jinjin Wang 2 3,  Shizhu Chen 2 3,  Xianlei Li 2 3,  Qiankun Ni 2 3,  Yuan Yuan 2 3,  Yaling Gan 2 3,  Junge Chen 2 3,  Fangzhou Li 2 3,  Jinchao Zhang 7,  Caiwen Ou 8,  Yongxiang Zhao 9,  Xiaoxuan Liu 10,  Xing-Jie Liang 11 12
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery for Metabolic Diseases, Center for Drug Discovery, Center of Advanced Pharmaceuticals and Biomaterials, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
  • 2 Laboratory of Controllable Nanopharmaceuticals, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Nanoscience and CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China.
  • 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
  • 4 Laboratory of Controllable Nanopharmaceuticals, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Nanoscience and CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China. [email protected].
  • 5 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. [email protected].
  • 6 National Center for International Biotargeting Theranostics, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biotargeting Theranostics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Targeting Tumour Theranostics, Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China.
  • 7 Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Diagnosis of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry & Environmental Science, Hebei University, Baoding, China.
  • 8 Dongguan Hospital of Southern Medical University, Southern Medical University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Shock and Microcirculation, Guangzhou, China.
  • 9 National Center for International Biotargeting Theranostics, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biotargeting Theranostics, Collaborative Innovation Center for Targeting Tumour Theranostics, Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China. [email protected].
  • 10 State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery for Metabolic Diseases, Center for Drug Discovery, Center of Advanced Pharmaceuticals and Biomaterials, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China. [email protected].
  • 11 Laboratory of Controllable Nanopharmaceuticals, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Nanoscience and CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China. [email protected].
  • 12 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 34400628 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25197-z
Abstract

Immunological adjuvants are essential for successful Cancer vaccination. However, traditional adjuvants have some limitations, such as lack of controllability and induction of systemic toxicity, which restrict their broad application. Here, we present a light-activable immunological adjuvant (LIA), which is composed of a hypoxia-responsive amphiphilic dendrimer nanoparticle loaded with chlorin e6. Under irradiation with near-infrared LIGHT, the LIA not only induces tumour Cell Lysis and tumour antigen release, but also promotes the structural transformation of 2-nitroimidazole containing dendrimer to 2-aminoimidazole containing dendrimer which can activate dendritic cells via the Toll-like Receptor 7-mediated signaling pathway. The LIA efficiently inhibits both primary and abscopal tumour growth and induces strong antigen-specific immune memory effect to prevent tumour metastasis and recurrence in vivo. Furthermore, LIA localizes the immunological adjuvant effect at the tumour site. We demonstrate this light-activable immunological adjuvant offers a safe and potent platform for in situ Cancer vaccination.

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