Nanoengineered targeting strategy for cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

Cancer immunotherapy is rapidly changing the paradigm of cancer care and treatment by evoking host immunity to kill cancer cells. As clinical approval of checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., ipilimumab and pembrolizumab) has been accelerated by a dramatic improvement of long-term survival in a small subset of patients compared to conventional chemotherapy, growing interesting research has focused on immunotherapy. However, majority of patients have not benefited from checkpoint therapies that only partially remove the inhibition of T cell functions. Insufficient systemic T cell responses, low immunogenicity and the immunosuppressive environment of tumors, create great challenges on therapeutic efficiency. Nanotechnology can integrate multiple functions within controlled size and shape, and has been explored as a unique avenue for the development of cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we mainly address how nanoengineered vaccines can induce robust T cell responses against tumors, as well as how nanomedicine can remodel the tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment to boost antitumor immune responses.

Adaptive Mechanisms of Tumor Therapy Resistance Driven by Tumor Microenvironment

“…The alteration of neoantigens may be another reason for acquired resistance, as manifested by the fact that loss of CD19 causes resistance following CD19-CAR-T cell therapy ( Shalabi et al, 2018 ). Interestingly, the latest studies implicate that the serine protease inhibitor SerpinB9 (Sb9), expressed in CAFs, MDSCs, and TAMs, can promote tumor cell proliferation by combining with granzyme B (GrB) leading to resistance to immunotherapy ( Mangan et al, 2017 ; Jiang L. et al, 2020 ; Yin et al, 2020 ).…”

Nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems as promising carriers for patients with COVID-19

“… 174 In melanoma, colon cancer, and human papillomavirus E6/E7, nano-vaccines have caused significant immune responses that inhibited tumor growth. 175 COVID-19 vaccines have been produced unprecedentedly, which would not have been possible without decades of fundamental research on delivery nanotechnology. Lipid-based nanoparticles have performed a crucial part in the progress of COVID-19 vaccines have therefore been regarded as the frontrunner in nanoscale drug delivery systems.…”

Nanovaccines: Merits, and diverse roles in boosting antitumor immune responses

“…Thereby, designing a cancer vaccine using nanotechnology could be an effective new strategy. 12 , 13 NPs are widely applied nanostructures with diameters ranging from 1 to 500 nm, and they are often used as nanovaccine carriers. Efficacy of these NPs-based vaccines are often determined by numerous parameters, including but not limited to: nanometer size, surface properties (e.g., charge, hydrophilic property), geometry, kinetics, stability, biocompatibility, and safety.…”