Cell-Membrane Immunotherapy Based on Natural Killer Cell Membrane Coated Nanoparticles for the Effective Inhibition of Primary and Abscopal Tumor Growth

Abstract

Developing effective immunotherapies with low toxicity and high tumor specificity is the ultimate goal in the battle against cancer. Here, we reported a cell-membrane immunotherapy strategy that was able to eliminate primary tumors and inhibited distant tumors by using natural killer (NK) cell membrane cloaked photosensitizer 4,4′,4′′,4′′′-(porphine-5,10,15,20-tetrayl) tetrakis (benzoic acid) (TCPP)-loaded nanoparticles (NK-NPs). The proteomic profiling of NK cell membranes was performed through shotgun proteomics, and we found that NK cell membranes enabled the NK-NPs to target tumors and could induce or enhance pro-inflammatory M1-macrophages polarization to produce antitumor immunity. The TCPP loaded in NK-NPs could induce cancer cell death through photodynamic therapy and consequently enhanced the antitumor immunity efficiency of the NK cell membranes. The results confirmed that NK-NPs selectively accumulated in the tumor and were able to eliminate primary tumor growth and produce an abscopal effect to inhibit distant tumors. This cell-membrane immunotherapeutic approach offers a strategy for tumor immunotherapy.

Nanoparticle‐Based Nanomedicines to Promote Cancer Immunotherapy: Recent Advances and Future Directions

“…More interestingly, gold‐magnesium nanoparticles revert M2 macrophages back to the subset of M1 phenotype along with a fall of pro‐tumorigenic cytokines and a concomitant rise of immunoregulatory cytokines via relieving the condition of hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment . In a recent study, natural killer cell membranes work as an immune inducer to elicit M1‐macrophage polarization, together with photodynamic nanoparticles to inhibit primary and abscopal tumor growth …”

Biomimetic Nanotechnology toward Personalized Vaccines

“…Natural killer cells have demonstrated an inherent affinity toward tumor cells and can enhance M1 macrophage polarization. To leverage these properties, natural killer cell membrane–coated nanoparticles have been used in combination with photodynamic therapy to promote ICD and significantly suppress local and distant tumor growth ( Figure ) . Suppression of distant tumor growth occurred through the abscopal effect and served as a sign that systemic anticancer immunity had been established.…”

“…b,c) Treatment using NK‐NPs with irradiation leads to b) the eradication of primary tumors and c) controls growth of distant tumors through the abscopal effect. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, American Chemistry Society.…”

Cell Membrane Nanotherapeutics: From Synthesis to Applications Emerging Tools for Personalized Cancer Therapy

“…Recent reports exploit the usage of cell‐membrane derived nanomaterials for a broad range of objectives from enhanced optical‐based therapies to immunotherapy to controlled drug release‐ often combining multiple functionalities. [ 5,7,118–121 ]…”

“…[ 116,118,133–135 ] Alternatively, cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be generated through the use of photosensitizing agents and cause subsequent oxidation of biological molecules to induce cancer cell death. [ 119–121 ]…”