Harnessing Engineered Immune Cells and Bacteria as Drug Carriers for Cancer Immunotherapy

Abstract

Immunotherapy continues to be in the spotlight of oncology therapy research in the past few years and has been proven to be a promising option to modulate one's innate and adaptive immune systems for cancer treatment. However, the poor delivery efficiency of immune agents, potential off-target toxicity, and nonimmunogenic tumors significantly limit its effectiveness and extensive application. Recently, emerging biomaterial-based drug carriers, including but not limited to immune cells and bacteria, are expected to be potential candidates to break the dilemma of immunotherapy, with their excellent natures of intrinsic tumor tropism and immunomodulatory activity. More than that, the tiny vesicles and physiological components derived from them have similar functions with their source cells due to the inheritance of various surface signal molecules and proteins. Herein, we presented representative examples about the latest advances of biomaterial-based delivery systems employed in cancer immunotherapy, including immune cells, bacteria, and their derivatives. Simultaneously, opportunities and challenges of immune cells and bacteria-based carriers are discussed to provide reference for their future application in cancer immunotherapy.

Biologically Self-Assembled Tumor Cell-Derived Cancer Nanovaccines as an All-in-One Platform for Cancer Immunotherapy

“…The rise of biomimetic nanotechnology offers more design options for cancer nanovaccine systems. , Various biomimetic nanovaccines including DC-derived and bacterial-derived nanovaccines have demonstrated desirable therapeutic effects. − However, these nanovaccines may face obstacles during the detoxification or antigen pulsing processes . In contrast to other biomimetic cancer nanovaccines, tumor cell-derived nanovaccines exhibit a large spectrum of antigens, allowing the development of diverse cytotoxic lymphocyte repertoires that make it more difficult for tumor cells to evade immune surveillance .…”

Biomedical Applications of Cell Membrane‐Based Biomimetic Nano‐Delivery System

“…BNPs have been explored for their potential use in the treatment of antitumor immunity. [135] To capitalize on the advantages of BNPs, several studies have developed bifunctional BNPs to combine antitumor immunity and PTT. Chen et al successfully synthesized mesoporous polydopamine NPs that demonstrated efficient photothermal performance, high biocompatibility, and rapid biodegradability, making them highly suitable for PTT applications.…”

“…BNPs have been explored for their potential use in the treatment of antitumor immunity. [ 135 ] To capitalize on the advantages of BNPs, several studies have developed bifunctional BNPs to combine antitumor immunity and PTT. Chen et al.…”

Terahertz electric field induced melting and transport of monolayer water confined in double-walled carbon nanotubes

“…Although the structures and phase behaviors of confined monolayer water within DWCNTs have been systematically investigated by Liu et al,11 to the best of our knowledge the dynamics of this peculiar system are still not explored. The major goal of this work is to reveal the dynamics of monolayer water in DWCNTs by using molecular dynamics simulations.…”