Nanodrug modified with engineered cell membrane targets CDKs to activate aPD-L1 immunotherapy against liver metastasis of immune-desert colon cancer

  • J Control Release. 2024 Apr 2:369:309-324. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.03.052.
Dongbing Ding  1 Rongpu Liang  1 Tan Li  2 Tianyun Lan  3 Yiquan Li  1 Shengxin Huang  1 Guanhui He  1 Jiannan Ren  1 Weibo Li  1 Zongheng Zheng  1 Tufeng Chen  1 Jiafeng Fang  1 Lijun Huang  1 Xintao Shuai  4 Bo Wei  5
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
  • 2. Nanomedicine Research Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
  • 3. Central Laboratory, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
  • 4. Nanomedicine Research Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract

Immunotherapy based on the PD-1/PD-L1 axis blockade has no benefit for patients diagnosed with colon Cancer liver metastasis (CCLM) for the microsatellite stable/proficient mismatch repair (MSS/pMMR)) subtype, which is known as an immune-desert Cancer featuring poor immunogenicity and insufficient CD8+ T cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. Here, a multifunctional nanodrug carrying a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)1/2/5/9 inhibitor and PD-L1 antibody is prepared to boost the immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)-based immunotherapy against MSS/pMMR CCLM via reversing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. To enhance the MSS/pMMR CCLM-targeting efficacy, we modify the nanodrug with PD-L1 knockout cell membrane of this colon Cancer subtype. First, CDKs inhibitor delivered by nanodrug down-regulates phosphorylated retinoblastoma and phosphorylated RNA polymerase II and meanwhile arrests the G2/M cell cycle in CCLM to promote immunogenic signal release, stimulate dendritic cell maturation, and enhance CD8+ T cell infiltration. Moreover, CDKi suppresses the secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines in tumor-associated myeloid cells sensitizing ICB therapy in CCLM. Notably, the great efficacy to activate immune responses is demonstrated in the patient-derived xenograft model and the patient-derived Organoid model as well, revealing a clinical application potential. Overall, our study represents a promising therapeutic approach for targeting liver metastasis, remolding the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), and enhancing the response of MSS/pMMR CCLM to boost ICB immunotherapy.

Keywords
CDKs; Engineered cell membrane; Immunotherapy; Microsatellite stable; Nanodrug; colon cancer liver metastasis.
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