bims-drudre Biomed News
on Targeted drug delivery and programmed release mechanisms
Issue of 2021–05–16
twenty-one papers selected by
Ceren Kimna, Technical University of Munich
  1. Lung cancer organoids analyzed on microwell arrays predict drug responses of patients within a week.
  2. Engineering T cells to enhance 3D migration through structurally and mechanically complex tumor microenvironments.
  3. Dose-Independent Transfection of Hydrophobized Polyplexes.
  4. Cell-Laden Multiple-Step and Reversible 4D Hydrogel Actuators to Mimic Dynamic Tissue Morphogenesis.
  5. Disrupting tumour vasculature and recruitment of aPDL1-loaded platelets control tumour metastasis.
  6. Bio-assembling Macro-Scale, Lumenized Airway Tubes of Defined Shape via Multi-Organoid Patterning and Fusion.
  7. Primary Macrophage-Based Microrobots: An Effective Tumor Therapy In Vivo by Dual-Targeting Function and Near-Infrared-Triggered Drug Release.
  8. Targeting Treg cells with GITR activation alleviates resistance to immunotherapy in murine glioblastomas.
  9. Mucosal immunity-mediated modulation of the gut microbiome by oral delivery of probiotics into Peyer's patches.
  10. Immunosuppressive Nanoparticles for Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Liver.
  11. Diagnosing Antibiotic Resistance Using Nucleic Acid Enzymes and Gold Nanoparticles.
  12. Adipocyte-Derived Anticancer Lipid Droplets.
  13. DNA-Grafted Hyaluronic Acid System with Enhanced Injectability and Biostability for Photo-Controlled Osteoarthritis Gene Therapy.
  14. An Oligonucleotide-Distortion-Responsive Organic Transistor for Platinum-Drug-Induced DNA-Damage Detection.
  15. Cooperative Self-Assembled Nanoparticle Induces Sequential Immunogenic Cell Death and Toll-Like Receptor Activation for Synergistic Chemo-immunotherapy.
  16. Engineered red blood cells as an off-the-shelf allogeneic anti-tumor therapeutic.
  17. Surface Wettability of Nanoparticle Modulated Sonothrombolysis.
  18. Shield and sword nano-soldiers ameliorate rheumatoid arthritis by multi-stage manipulation of neutrophils.
  19. The Role of MicroRNA Expression for Proliferation and Apoptosis of Tumor Cells: Impact of Hypoxia-Related Acidosis.
  20. Tissue-specific activation of gene expression by the Synergistic Activation Mediator (SAM) CRISPRa system in mice.
  21. Antibody-Functionalized Nanowires: A Tuner for the Activation of T Cells.
  1. Nat Commun. 2021 May 10. 12(1): 2581
    Lung cancer organoids analyzed on microwell arrays predict drug responses of patients within a week.
    Yawei Hu, Xizhao Sui, Fan Song, Yaqian Li, Kaiyi Li, Zhongyao Chen, Fan Yang, Xiuyuan Chen, Yaohua Zhang, Xianning Wang, Qiang Liu, Cong Li, Binbin Zou, Xiaofang Chen, Jun Wang, Peng Liu.
      While the potential of patient-derived organoids (PDOs) to predict patients' responses to anti-cancer treatments has been well recognized, the lengthy time and the low efficiency in establishing PDOs hamper the implementation of PDO-based drug sensitivity tests in clinics. We first adapt a mechanical sample processing method to generate lung cancer organoids (LCOs) from surgically resected and biopsy tumor tissues. The LCOs recapitulate the histological and genetic features of the parental tumors and have the potential to expand indefinitely. By employing an integrated superhydrophobic microwell array chip (InSMAR-chip), we demonstrate hundreds of LCOs, a number that can be generated from most of the samples at passage 0, are sufficient to produce clinically meaningful drug responses within a week. The results prove our one-week drug tests are in good agreement with patient-derived xenografts, genetic mutations of tumors, and clinical outcomes. The LCO model coupled with the microwell device provides a technically feasible means for predicting patient-specific drug responses in clinical settings.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22676-1
  2. Nat Commun. 2021 May 14. 12(1): 2815
    Engineering T cells to enhance 3D migration through structurally and mechanically complex tumor microenvironments.
    Erdem D Tabdanov, Nelson J Rodríguez-Merced, Alexander X Cartagena-Rivera, Vikram V Puram, Mackenzie K Callaway, Ethan A Ensminger, Emily J Pomeroy, Kenta Yamamoto, Walker S Lahr, Beau R Webber, Branden S Moriarity, Alexander S Zhovmer, Paolo P Provenzano.
      Defining the principles of T cell migration in structurally and mechanically complex tumor microenvironments is critical to understanding escape from antitumor immunity and optimizing T cell-related therapeutic strategies. Here, we engineered nanotextured elastic platforms to study and enhance T cell migration through complex microenvironments and define how the balance between contractility localization-dependent T cell phenotypes influences migration in response to tumor-mimetic structural and mechanical cues. Using these platforms, we characterize a mechanical optimum for migration that can be perturbed by manipulating an axis between microtubule stability and force generation. In 3D environments and live tumors, we demonstrate that microtubule instability, leading to increased Rho pathway-dependent cortical contractility, promotes migration whereas clinically used microtubule-stabilizing chemotherapies profoundly decrease effective migration. We show that rational manipulation of the microtubule-contractility axis, either pharmacologically or through genome engineering, results in engineered T cells that more effectively move through and interrogate 3D matrix and tumor volumes. Thus, engineering cells to better navigate through 3D microenvironments could be part of an effective strategy to enhance efficacy of immune therapeutics.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22985-5
  3. Adv Mater. 2021 May 14. e2102219
    Dose-Independent Transfection of Hydrophobized Polyplexes.
    Zhen Zhang, Nasha Qiu, Shuling Wu, Xin Liu, Zhuxian Zhou, Jianbin Tang, Yanpeng Liu, Ruhong Zhou, Youqing Shen.
      Cationic polymers dynamically complex DNA into complexes (polyplexes). So, upon dilution, polyplexes easily dissociate and lose transfection ability, limiting their in vivo systemic gene delivery. Herein, it is found that polyplex's stability and endocytosis pathway determine its transfection dose-dependence. The polyplexes of hydrophilic polycations have dose-dependent integrity and lysosome-trafficking endocytosis; at low doses, most of these polyplexes dissociate, and the remaining few are internalized and trapped in lysosomes, abolishing their transfection ability. In contrast, the polyplexes of the polycations with optimal hydrophobicity remain integrated even at low concentrations and enter cells via macropinocytosis directly into the cytosol evading lysosomes, so each polyplex can accomplish its infection process, leading to dose-independent DNA transfection like viral vectors. Furthermore, the tuned hydrophobicity balancing the affinity of anionic poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) to the polyplex surface enables γ-PGA to stick on the polyplex surface as a shielding layer but peel off on the cell membrane to release the naked polyplexes for dose-independent transfection. These findings may provide guidelines for developing polyplexes that mimick a viral vector's dose-independent transfection for effective in vivo gene delivery.
    Keywords:  cationic polymer polyplexes; dose-independent transfection; hydrophobicity effect; macropinocytosis pathway; non-viral gene delivery
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202102219
  4. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2021 05;8(9): 2004616
    Cell-Laden Multiple-Step and Reversible 4D Hydrogel Actuators to Mimic Dynamic Tissue Morphogenesis.
    Aixiang Ding, Oju Jeon, Rui Tang, Yu Bin Lee, Sang Jin Lee, Eben Alsberg.
      Shape-morphing hydrogels bear promising prospects as soft actuators and for robotics. However, they are mostly restricted to applications in the abiotic domain due to the harsh physicochemical conditions typically necessary to induce shape morphing. Here, multilayer hydrogel actuator systems are developed using biocompatible and photocrosslinkable oxidized, methacrylated alginate and methacrylated gelatin that permit encapsulation and maintenance of living cells within the hydrogel actuators and implement programmed and controlled actuations with multiple shape changes. The hydrogel actuators encapsulating cells enable defined self-folding and/or user-regulated, on-demand-folding into specific 3D architectures under physiological conditions, with the capability to partially bioemulate complex developmental processes such as branching morphogenesis. The hydrogel actuator systems can be utilized as novel platforms for investigating the effect of programmed multiple-step and reversible shape morphing on cellular behaviors in 3D extracellular matrix and the role of recapitulating developmental and healing morphogenic processes on promoting new complex tissue formation.
    Keywords:  4D biomaterials; biomimicry; controllable and programmable actuation; morphodynamic tissue engineering; morphogenesis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202004616
  5. Nat Commun. 2021 May 13. 12(1): 2773
    Disrupting tumour vasculature and recruitment of aPDL1-loaded platelets control tumour metastasis.
    Hongjun Li, Zejun Wang, Zhaowei Chen, Tianyuan Ci, Guojun Chen, Di Wen, Ruoxin Li, Jinqiang Wang, Huan Meng, R Bryan Bell, Zhifeng Gu, Gianpietro Dotti, Zhen Gu.
      Although therapies of cancer are advancing, it remains challenging for therapeutics to reach the sites of metastasis, which accounts for majority of cancer associated death. In this study, we have developed a strategy that guides an anti-programmed cell death-ligand 1 (aPDL1) antibody to accumulate in metastatic lesions to promote anti-tumour immune responses. Briefly, we have developed a combination in which Vadimezan disrupts tumour blood vessels of tumour metastases and facilitates the recruitment and activation of adoptively transferred aPDL1-conjugated platelets. In situ activated platelets generate aPDL1-decorated platelet-derived microparticles (PMP) that diffuse within the tumour and elicit immune responses. The proposed combination increases 10-fold aPDL1 antibody accumulation in lung metastases as compared to the intravenous administration of the antibody and enhances the magnitude of immune responses leading to improved antitumour effects.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22674-3
  6. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2021 05;8(9): 2003332
    Bio-assembling Macro-Scale, Lumenized Airway Tubes of Defined Shape via Multi-Organoid Patterning and Fusion.
    Ye Liu, Catherine Dabrowska, Antranik Mavousian, Bernhard Strauss, Fanlong Meng, Corrado Mazzaglia, Karim Ouaras, Callum Macintosh, Eugene Terentjev, Joo-Hyeon Lee, Yan Yan Shery Huang.
      Epithelial, stem-cell derived organoids are ideal building blocks for tissue engineering, however, scalable and shape-controlled bio-assembly of epithelial organoids into larger and anatomical structures is yet to be achieved. Here, a robust organoid engineering approach, Multi-Organoid Patterning and Fusion (MOrPF), is presented to assemble individual airway organoids of different sizes into upscaled, scaffold-free airway tubes with predefined shapes. Multi-Organoid Aggregates (MOAs) undergo accelerated fusion in a matrix-depleted, free-floating environment, possess a continuous lumen, and maintain prescribed shapes without an exogenous scaffold interface. MOAs in the floating culture exhibit a well-defined three-stage process of inter-organoid surface integration, luminal material clearance, and lumina connection. The observed shape stability of patterned MOAs is confirmed by theoretical modelling based on organoid morphology and the physical forces involved in organoid fusion. Immunofluorescent characterization shows that fused MOA tubes possess an unstratified epithelium consisting mainly of tracheal basal stem cells. By generating large, shape-controllable organ tubes, MOrPF enables upscaled organoid engineering towards integrated organoid devices and structurally complex organ tubes.
    Keywords:  bio‐assembly; organoids; respiratory system; tissue engineering; tissue morphogenesis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202003332
  7. ACS Nano. 2021 May 11.
    Primary Macrophage-Based Microrobots: An Effective Tumor Therapy In Vivo by Dual-Targeting Function and Near-Infrared-Triggered Drug Release.
    Van Du Nguyen, Hyun-Ki Min, Ho Yong Kim, Jiwon Han, You Hee Choi, Chang-Sei Kim, Jong-Oh Park, Eunpyo Choi.
      Macrophages (MΦs) have the capability to sense chemotactic cues and to home tumors, therefore presenting a great approach to engineer these cells to deliver therapeutic agents to treat diseases. However, current cell-based drug delivery systems usually use commercial cell lines that may elicit an immune response when injected into a host animal. Furthermore, premature off-target drug release also remains an enormous challenge. Here, we isolated and differentiated MΦs from the spleens of BALB/c mice and developed dual-targeting MΦ-based microrobots, regulated by chemotaxis and an external magnetic field, and had a precise spatiotemporal controlled drug release at the tumor sites in response to the NIR laser irradiation. These microrobots were prepared by coloading citric acid (CA)-coated superparamagnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and doxorubicin (DOX)-containing thermosensitive nanoliposomes (TSLPs) into the MΦs. CA-MNPs promoted a magnetic targeting function to the microrobots and also permitted photothermal heating in response to the NIR irradiation, triggering drug release from TSLPs. In vitro experiments showed that the microrobots effectively infiltrated tumors in 3D breast cancer tumor spheroids, particularly in the presence of the magnetic field, and effectively induced tumor cell death, further enhanced by the NIR laser irradiation. In vivo experiments confirmed that the application of the magnetic field and NIR laser could markedly inhibit the growth of tumors with a subtherapeutic dose of DOX and a single injection of the microrobots. In summary, the study proposes a strategy for the effective anticancer treatment using the developed microrobots.
    Keywords:  doxorubicin; immune cell; liposome; primary macrophage; superparamagnetic nanoparticle; synergistic therapy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c00114
  8. Nat Commun. 2021 May 11. 12(1): 2582
    Targeting Treg cells with GITR activation alleviates resistance to immunotherapy in murine glioblastomas.
    Zohreh Amoozgar, Jonas Kloepper, Jun Ren, Rong En Tay, Samuel W Kazer, Evgeny Kiner, Shanmugarajan Krishnan, Jessica M Posada, Mitrajit Ghosh, Emilie Mamessier, Christina Wong, Gino B Ferraro, Ana Batista, Nancy Wang, Mark Badeaux, Sylvie Roberge, Lei Xu, Peigen Huang, Alex K Shalek, Dai Fukumura, Hye-Jung Kim, Rakesh K Jain.
      Immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) have failed in all phase III glioblastoma (GBM) trials. Here, we show that regulatory T (Treg) cells play a key role in GBM resistance to ICBs in experimental gliomas. Targeting glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related receptor (GITR) in Treg cells using an agonistic antibody (αGITR) promotes CD4 Treg cell differentiation into CD4 effector T cells, alleviates Treg cell-mediated suppression of anti-tumor immune response, and induces potent anti-tumor effector cells in GBM. The reprogrammed GBM-infiltrating Treg cells express genes associated with a Th1 response signature, produce IFNγ, and acquire cytotoxic activity against GBM tumor cells while losing their suppressive function. αGITR and αPD1 antibodies increase survival benefit in three experimental GBM models, with a fraction of cohorts exhibiting complete tumor eradication and immune memory upon tumor re-challenge. Moreover, αGITR and αPD1 synergize with the standard of care treatment for newly-diagnosed GBM, enhancing the cure rates in these GBM models.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22885-8
  9. Sci Adv. 2021 May;pii: eabf0677. [Epub ahead of print]7(20):
    Mucosal immunity-mediated modulation of the gut microbiome by oral delivery of probiotics into Peyer's patches.
    Sisi Lin, Subhajit Mukherjee, Juanjuan Li, Weiliang Hou, Chao Pan, Jinyao Liu.
      Methods capable of maintaining gut microbiota homeostasis to prevent bacterial translocation and infection under external threats are critical for multiple facets of human health but have been rarely reported. Here, we describe the elicitation of mucosal immunity to modulate the gut microbiota by oral delivery of living probiotics into Peyer's patches. Probiotics are individually camouflaged within a yeast membrane, on which the embedded β-glucan can facilitate the phagocytosis of microfold cells that locate in the intestinal epithelium. The delivery of probiotics into lymphoid follicles after oral ingestion promotes robust mucosal immune responses and notably upgrades the production of secretory immunoglobulin A. The provoked immunity positively regulates the gut microflora, which, in turn, retains gut homeostasis and provides defense against environmental attacks. In two murine models of gut barrier impairment, oral administration with camouflaged probiotics effectively prevents the breakdown of intestinal barrier and evidences limited bacterial translocation and systemic inflammation.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf0677
  10. ACS Nano. 2021 May 14.
    Immunosuppressive Nanoparticles for Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Liver.
    Shufang Shen, Huaxing Dai, Ziying Fei, Yu Chai, Yu Hao, Qin Fan, Ziliang Dong, Yujie Zhu, Jialu Xu, Qingle Ma, Xiao Han, Ligeng Xu, Fei Peng, Zhuang Liu, Chao Wang.
      Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has been considered as an effective way to boost immune cells to recognize and attack tumors. However, side effects known as immune-related adverse events (irAEs) should be carefully managed. Here, we engineer immunosuppressive nanoparticles by coating PD-L1 overexpressed mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) plasma membrane on poly lactic-co-glycolic acid nanoparticles (MSC-PD-L1+ NPs) for managing and reducing irAEs induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors. The nanoparticles can enrich at liver site after intravenous administration. In the high dose of anti-PD-L1 mAb-induced irAEs clinically relevant mouse model, a low dose of MSC-PD-L1+ NPs (2 mg/kg) sufficiently rescues hepatitis by inactivating T cells and macrophages in the liver tissue. More intriguingly, due to the dose threshold for nanoparticles to the tumor site, we unexpectedly find that the injected NPs do not affect the efficiency of ICB therapy to inhibit solid tumor growth. Such a strategy shows potential for managing the various cancer immunotherapy associated irAEs in clinical applications.
    Keywords:  PD-L1; immune checkpoint blockade; irAEs; mesenchymal stem cells; nanoparticles
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c02391
  11. ACS Nano. 2021 May 10.
    Diagnosing Antibiotic Resistance Using Nucleic Acid Enzymes and Gold Nanoparticles.
    Mohamed A Abdou Mohamed, Hannah N Kozlowski, Jisung Kim, Kyryl Zagorovsky, Melinda Kantor, Jordan J Feld, Samira Mubareka, Tony Mazzulli, Warren C W Chan.
      The rapid and accurate detection of antimicrobial resistance is critical to limiting the spread of infections and delivering effective treatments. Here, we developed a rapid, sensitive, and simple colorimetric nanodiagnostic platform to identify disease-causing pathogens and their associated antibiotic resistance genes within 2 h. The platform can detect bacteria from different biological samples (i.e., blood, wound swabs) with or without culturing. We validated the multicomponent nucleic acid enzyme-gold nanoparticle (MNAzyme-GNP) platform by screening patients with central line associated bloodstream infections and achieved a clinical sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 100%, respectively. We detected antibiotic resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patient swabs with 90% clinical sensitivity and 95% clinical specificity. Finally, we identified mecA resistance genes in uncultured nasal, groin, axilla, and wound swabs from patients with 90% clinical sensitivity and 95% clinical specificity. The simplicity and versatility for detecting bacteria and antibiotic resistance markers make our platform attractive for the broad screening of microbial pathogens.
    Keywords:  DNAzyme; MRSA; RPA; antibiotic resistance; central line infection; gold nanoparticles; sepsis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.0c09902
  12. Adv Mater. 2021 May 13. e2100629
    Adipocyte-Derived Anticancer Lipid Droplets.
    Tingxizi Liang, Di Wen, Guojun Chen, Amanda Chan, Zhaowei Chen, Hongjun Li, Zejun Wang, Xiao Han, Liping Jiang, Jun-Jie Zhu, Zhen Gu.
      Engineering of efficient and safe materials remains a challenge for cancer therapy. Here, the lipid droplet, an organelle in adipocytes, is demonstrated to be a controllable and biocompatible vehicle to deliver anticancer drugs. It is validated that isolated lipid droplets maintain their key physiological functions to interact with other organelles and augment the therapeutic effect of cancer photodynamic therapy by encapsulation with a lipid-conjugated photosensitizer (Pyrolipid) through a variety of pathways, including generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS); lipid peroxidation; and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. As such, the IC50 value of Pyrolipid is reduced by 6.0-fold when loaded into the lipid droplet. Of note, in vivo results demonstrate that engineered lipid droplets induce significant inhibition of tumor growth with minimal side effects.
    Keywords:  drug delivery; lipid droplets; organelles; photodynamic therapy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202100629
  13. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2021 05;8(9): 2004793
    DNA-Grafted Hyaluronic Acid System with Enhanced Injectability and Biostability for Photo-Controlled Osteoarthritis Gene Therapy.
    Zhijie Chen, Feng Zhang, Hongbo Zhang, Liang Cheng, Kaizhe Chen, Jieliang Shen, Jin Qi, Lianfu Deng, Chuan He, Hélder A Santos, Wenguo Cui.
      Gene therapy is identified as a powerful strategy to overcome the limitations of traditional therapeutics to achieve satisfactory effects. However, various challenges related to the dosage form, delivery method, and, especially, application value, hampered the clinical transition of gene therapy. Here, aiming to regulate the cartilage inflammation and degeneration related abnormal IL-1β mRNA expression in osteoarthritis (OA), the interference oligonucleotides is integrated with the Au nanorods to fabricate the spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), to promote the stability and cell internalization efficiency. Furthermore, the complementary oligonucleotides are grafted onto hyaluronic acid (HA) to obtained DNA-grafted HA (DNAHA) for SNAs delivery by base pairing, resulting in significantly improved injectability and bio-stability of the system. After loading SNAs, the constructed DNAHA-SNAs system (HA-SNAs) performs a reversible NIR-triggered on-demand release of SNAs by photo-thermal induced DNA dehybridization and followed by post-NIR in situ hybridization. The in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that this system down-regulated catabolic proteases and up-regulated anabolic components in cartilage over extended periods of time, to safeguard the chondrocytes against degenerative changes and impede the continual advancement of OA.
    Keywords:  DNA grafted hyaluronic acid; anti‐inflammation; enhanced injectability; long‐term bio‐stability; osteoarthritis gene therapy; spherical nucleic acids
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202004793
  14. Adv Mater. 2021 May 13. e2100489
    An Oligonucleotide-Distortion-Responsive Organic Transistor for Platinum-Drug-Induced DNA-Damage Detection.
    Dekai Ye, Juan Wang, Hongguang Shen, Xinping Feng, Lanyi Xiang, Wenlong Jin, Wenrui Zhao, Jiamin Ding, Zihan He, Ye Zou, Qing Meng, Wei Cui, Fengjiao Zhang, Chong-An Di, Chunhai Fan, Daoben Zhu.
      Organic transistor with DNA-damage evaluation ability can open up novel opportunities for bioelectronic devices. Even though trace amounts of drugs can cause cumulative gene damage in vivo, the extremely low occurrence proportion makes them hardly transduced into detectable electric signals. Here, an ultrasensitive DNA-damage sensor based on an oligonucleotide-distortion-responsive organic transistor (DROT) is reported by creating controllable conformation change of double-stranded DNA on the surface of organic semiconductors. In combination with interfacial charge redistribution and efficient signal amplification, the DROT provides an ultrasensitive single-site DNA-damage response with 20.5 s even upon 1 × 10-12 m cisplatin. The high generalizability of this DROT to three generations of classical platinum drugs and gene-relevant DNA damage is demonstrated. A biochip is further designed for intelligent damage analysis in complex environments, which holds the potential for high-throughput biotoxicity evaluation and drug screening in the future.
    Keywords:  DNA distortion; bioelectronic devices; biosensors; organic semiconductors; organic transistors
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202100489
  15. Nano Lett. 2021 May 13.
    Cooperative Self-Assembled Nanoparticle Induces Sequential Immunogenic Cell Death and Toll-Like Receptor Activation for Synergistic Chemo-immunotherapy.
    Yaoqi Wang, Zenghui Wang, Binlong Chen, Qingqing Yin, Meijie Pan, Heming Xia, Bo Zhang, Yue Yan, Zhujun Jiang, Qiang Zhang, Yiguang Wang.
      Anticancer immunotherapy is hampered by poor immunogenicity and a profoundly immunosuppressive microenvironment in solid tumors and lymph nodes. Herein, sequential pH/redox-responsive nanoparticles (SRNs) are engineered to activate the immune microenvironment of tumor sites and lymph nodes. The two-modular SRNs could sequentially respond to the acidic tumor microenvironment and endosome compartments of dendritic cells (DCs) to precisely deliver doxorubicin (DOX) and imidazoquinolines (IMDQs). In the tumor microenvironment, released DOX triggers immunogenic cell death. In sentinel lymph nodes, the IMDQ nanoparticle module is dissociated in the acidic endosome compartment to specifically stimulate toll-like receptor 7/8 for DC maturation. Thus, the orchestrated nanoparticle system could enhance the infiltration of CD8α+ T cells in tumors and provoke a strong antitumor immune response toward primary and abscopal tumors in B16-OVA and CT26 tumor-bearing mice models. The cooperative self-assembled nanoparticle strategy provides a potential candidate of nanomedicine to advance the synergistic cancer chemo-immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  chemo-immunotherapy; immunogenic cell death; pH/redox sequential responsiveness; polymer−drug conjugate; toll-like receptor agonist
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c00977
  16. Nat Commun. 2021 May 11. 12(1): 2637
    Engineered red blood cells as an off-the-shelf allogeneic anti-tumor therapeutic.
    Xuqing Zhang, Mengyao Luo, Shamael R Dastagir, Mellissa Nixon, Annie Khamhoung, Andrea Schmidt, Albert Lee, Naren Subbiah, Douglas C McLaughlin, Christopher L Moore, Mary Gribble, Nicholas Bayhi, Viral Amin, Ryan Pepi, Sneha Pawar, Timothy J Lyford, Vikram Soman, Jennifer Mellen, Christopher L Carpenter, Laurence A Turka, Thomas J Wickham, Tiffany F Chen.
      Checkpoint inhibitors and T-cell therapies have highlighted the critical role of T cells in anti-cancer immunity. However, limitations associated with these treatments drive the need for alternative approaches. Here, we engineer red blood cells into artificial antigen-presenting cells (aAPCs) presenting a peptide bound to the major histocompatibility complex I, the costimulatory ligand 4-1BBL, and interleukin (IL)-12. This leads to robust, antigen-specific T-cell expansion, memory formation, additional immune activation, tumor control, and antigen spreading in tumor models in vivo. The presence of 4-1BBL and IL-12 induces minimal toxicities due to restriction to the vasculature and spleen. The allogeneic aAPC, RTX-321, comprised of human leukocyte antigen-A*02:01 presenting the human papilloma virus (HPV) peptide HPV16 E711-19, 4-1BBL, and IL-12 on the surface, activates HPV-specific T cells and promotes effector function in vitro. Thus, RTX-321 is a potential 'off-the-shelf' in vivo cellular immunotherapy for treating HPV + cancers, including cervical and head/neck cancers.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22898-3
  17. Adv Mater. 2021 May 13. e2007073
    Surface Wettability of Nanoparticle Modulated Sonothrombolysis.
    Qingyuan Wu, Fengrong Zhang, Xueting Pan, Zhijun Huang, Zhijie Zeng, Hongyu Wang, Jun Jiao, Xiaolu Xiong, Lixin Bai, Dongsheng Zhou, Huiyu Liu.
      Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a non-invasive and highly penetrating treatment strategy under ultrasound irradiation. However, uncertainty in the mechanism of SDT has seriously hindered its future clinical application. Here, the mechanism of SDT enhanced by the wettability of nanoparticles is investigated. Nanoparticles can adsorb and stabilize nanobubbles in liquid, thus enhancing SDT efficiency. The stability of the nanobubbles is positively correlated with the desorption energy of the nanoparticles, which is determined by the wettability of the nanoparticles. This conclusion is verified for mesoporous silica and polystyrene nanoparticles and it is found that nanoparticles with a water contact angle of about 90° possess the largest desorption energy. To further apply this conclusion, thrombus models are constructed on rats and the experimental results demonstrate that nanoparticles with the largest desorption energy have the highest thrombolytic efficiency. It is believed that these findings will help to better understand the SDT mechanism and guide new strategies for rational design of nanoparticles adopted in SDT.
    Keywords:  reactive oxygen species; silica nanoparticles; sonodynamic mechanism; sonothrombolysis; wettability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202007073
  18. J Control Release. 2021 May 06. pii: S0168-3659(21)00222-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    Shield and sword nano-soldiers ameliorate rheumatoid arthritis by multi-stage manipulation of neutrophils.
    Jiaxin Li, Yang Long, Rong Guo, Kebai Ren, Zhengze Lu, Man Li, Xuhui Wang, Jiaxin Li, Yashi Wang, Zhirong Zhang, Qin He.
      Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the outbreak of inflammation. Neutrophils, the main culprit of the outbreak of inflammation, are the first inflammatory cells to be recruited to inflamed joints and facilitate the recruitment of themselves by stimulating the release of chemokines. Here, based on neutrophils, a novel anti-inflammatory "shield and sword soldiers" strategy is established with LMWH-TOS nanoparticles (LT NPs). The hydrophilic fragment low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) acts as a shield which block the transvascular movement of neutrophils through inhibiting the adhesion cascade by binding to P-selectin on inflamed endothelium. Synergistically, MMP-9, which is secreted by the recruited neutrophils and degrade the main component of articular cartilage, is reduced by the hydrophobic fragment d-α-tocopheryl succinate (TOS), functioning as a sword. In collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model, LT NPs show significant targeting effect, and exhibit prominent therapeutic efficacy after enveloping the first-line anti-RA drug methotrexate. Our work proves that the multi-stage manipulation of neutrophils is feasible and effective, providing a new concept for RA treatment.
    Keywords:  Drug delivery; LMWH; Micelle; Neutrophil; Rheumatoid arthritis; TOS
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.05.008
  19. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2021 ;1269 145-149
    The Role of MicroRNA Expression for Proliferation and Apoptosis of Tumor Cells: Impact of Hypoxia-Related Acidosis.
    L Lange, T Hüsing, M Rauschner, Anne Riemann, O Thews.
      The metabolic microenvironment in tumors is characterized by hypoxia and acidosis. Extracellular pH sometimes decreases to even below 6.0. Previous experiments showed that tissue pH has an impact on tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis. However, the mechanism of how cell cycle progression is affected by decreased pH is not fully understood yet. One possible mechanism includes changes in the expression of miRNAs. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of pH-regulated miRNAs (miR-183 and miR-215) on proliferation, apoptosis, and necrosis of tumor cells. Therefore, AT1 prostate and Walker-256 mammary carcinoma cells were transfected with the miRNAs or with the respective antagomirs and incubated at pH 7.4 and 6.6 for 24 h. AT1 cells underwent a G0/G1 cell cycle arrest under acidic conditions and showed a marked reduction of the number of actively DNA-synthesizing cells. In Walker-256 cells, acidosis induced a reduction of apoptosis and additionally a significant increase in necrotic cell death. Transfection of tumor cells with miR-183 or miR-215, which were significantly downregulated under acidic conditions, had no impact on cell death of AT1 or Walker-256 cells. Overexpression of miR-183, which is also downregulated by acidosis, intensified G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in AT1 cells. Previous studies revealed that hypoxia-related tumor acidosis affects the expression of different small noncoding RNAs. However, not all of these acidosis-regulated miRNAs seem to have an impact on proliferation, apoptosis, and necrosis of tumor cells. While miR-215 had no influence, miR-183 seems to be an interesting candidate that could amplify the impact of extracellular acidosis on malignant behavior of tumor cells.
    Keywords:  Apoptosis; MicroRNA; Necrosis; Proliferation; Tumor acidosis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48238-1_23
  20. Nat Commun. 2021 May 13. 12(1): 2770
    Tissue-specific activation of gene expression by the Synergistic Activation Mediator (SAM) CRISPRa system in mice.
    Charleen Hunt, Suzanne A Hartford, Derek White, Evangelos Pefanis, Timothy Hanna, Clarissa Herman, Jarrell Wiley, Heather Brown, Qi Su, Yurong Xin, Dennis Voronin, Hien Nguyen, Judith Altarejos, Keith Crosby, Jeffery Haines, Sarah Cancelarich, Meghan Drummond, Sven Moller-Tank, Ryan Malpass, Jacqueline Buckley, Maria Del Pilar Molina-Portela, Gustavo Droguett, David Frendewey, Eric Chiao, Brian Zambrowicz, Guochun Gong.
      CRISPR-based transcriptional activation is a powerful tool for functional gene interrogation; however, delivery difficulties have limited its applications in vivo. Here, we created a mouse model expressing all components of the CRISPR-Cas9 guide RNA-directed Synergistic Activation Mediator (SAM) from a single transcript that is capable of activating target genes in a tissue-specific manner. We optimized Lipid Nanoparticles and Adeno-Associated Virus guide RNA delivery approaches to achieve expression modulation of one or more genes in vivo. We utilized the SAM mouse model to generate a hypercholesteremia disease state that we could bidirectionally modulate with various guide RNAs. Additionally, we applied SAM to optimize gene expression in a humanized Transthyretin mouse model to recapitulate human expression levels. These results demonstrate that the SAM gene activation platform can facilitate in vivo research and drug discovery.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22932-4
  21. Nano Lett. 2021 May 14.
    Antibody-Functionalized Nanowires: A Tuner for the Activation of T Cells.
    Viraj Bhingardive, Anna Kossover, Muhammed Iraqi, Bishnu Khand, Guillaume Le Saux, Angel Porgador, Mark Schvartzman.
      T cells sense both chemical cues delivered by antigen molecules and physical cues delivered by the environmental elasticity and topography; yet, it is still largely unclear how these cues cumulatively regulate the immune activity of T cells. Here, we engineered a nanoscale platform for ex vivo stimulation of T cells based on antigen-functionalized nanowires. The nanowire topography and elasticity, as well as the immobilized antigens, deliver the physical and chemical cues, respectively, enabling the systematic study of the integrated effect of these cues on a T cell's immune response. We found that T cells sense both the topography and bending modulus of the nanowires and modulate their signaling, degranulation, and cytotoxicity with the variation in these physical features. Our study provides an important insight into the physical mechanism of T cell activation and paves the way to novel nanomaterials for the controlled ex vivo activation of T cells in immunotherapy.
    Keywords:  T cells; biofunctionalization; immunotherapy; mechanosensing; nanowires
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c00245
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