New Progress was Made on Immunotherapy Delivery by Hebei University's Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education

The latest issue of Nature Nanotechnology published online the scientific research achievements of Proton-driven transformable nanovaccine for cancer immunotherapy on October 27. Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Diagnosis of the Ministry of Education and College of Chemistry and Environmental Science of Hebei University are the corresponding author address. This achievement has made new progress in tumor immunotherapy and provided a new strategy for it.

Cancer vaccines hold great promise for improved cancer treatment. Proper cytosolic delivery of tumor antigens, stimulation of the innate immune system, and cross-presentation of tumor antigens are essential for the induction of tumor-specific immunity. Nanocarrier systems are a promising non-viral agent that can facilitate cytosolic delivery. However, the lysosome dilemma and low immunogenicity of tumor antigens limit the effectiveness of cancer vaccines. Here, we present a proton-driven nanotransformer-based vaccine, comprising a polymer-peptide conjugate-based nanotransformer and loaded antigenic peptide. On the one hand, in the acidic endosomal environment, the vaccine undergoes a dramatic morphological change from nanospheres (about 100 nanometres in diameter) into nanosheets (several micrometres in length or width), which mechanically disrupts the endosomal membrane and directly delivers the antigenic peptide into the cytoplasm. On the other hand. The re-assembled nanosheets also boost tumour immunity via NLRP3 activation inflammation. The combination of these two aspects promotes efficient antigen cross-presentation and induces a strong tumor-specific T cell response. The vaccine effectively inhibits tumour growth of the B16 and HPV tumour models in mice. Moreover, combining the vaccine with anti-PD-L1 antibodies results in over 83 days of survival and in about half of the mice produces complete tumour regression in the B16 model. In addition, this system also has a significant corresponding effect on the presentation of HPV antigens. This proton-driven transformable nanovaccine offers a robust and safe strategy for cancer immunotherapy.

Nature Nanotechnology was founded by Nature Publishing Group (NPG) in 2006. It is the top magazine under Nature that reports the latest research results related to nanoscience and technology. Its latest impact factor in 2020 is 31.538 and H index is 160.