Reprogramming Tumor Immune Microenvironment (TIME) and Metabolism via Biomimetic Targeting Codelivery of Shikonin/JQ1

Nanomedicines modulating tumor immunosuppressive cells to enhance cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy has veered the paradigm of cancer treatment. Despite recent advances in immunotherapy for improved antitumor efficacy, the complicated tumor microenvironment (TME) is highly immunosuppressive, yielding both astounding and unsatisfactory clinical successes. In this regard, clinical outcomes of currently available immunotherapy are confined to the varied immune systems owing in large part to the lack of understanding of the complexity and diversity of the immune context of the TME. Various advanced designs of nanomedicines could still not fully surmount the delivery barriers of the TME. The immunosuppressive TME may even dampen the efficacy of antitumor immunity. Recently, some nanotechnology-related strategies have been inaugurated to modulate the immunosuppressive cells within the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) for robust immunotherapeutic responses. In this review, we will highlight the current understanding of the immunosuppressive TIME and identify disparate subclasses of TIME that possess an impact on immunotherapy, especially those unique classes associated with the immunosuppressive effect. The immunoregulatory cell types inside the immunosuppressive TIME will be delineated along with the existing and potential approaches for immunosuppressive cell modulation. After introducing the various strategies, we will ultimately outline both the novel therapeutic targets and the potential issues that affect the efficacy of TIME-based nanomedicines.

Multifunctional Nanoparticles Boost Cancer Immunotherapy Based on Modulating the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment

Cancer immunotherapy has been a favorable strategy for facilitating antitumor immunity. However, immune tolerance and an ultimate immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITM) are primary obstacles. To achieve the goals of remodeling the ITM and promoting cancer immunotherapy, a versatile nanoparticle codelivering shikonin (SK) and PD-L1 knockdown siRNA (SK/siR-NPs) was reported. SK/siR-NPs are demonstrated to tellingly induce the immunogenic cell death (ICD) of tumor cells, leading to increased dendritic cell maturation. Moreover, SK/siR-NPs can cause an efficacious inhibition of PD-L1, leading to enhanced cytotoxic T lymphocyte response to tumor cells. Most importantly, SK/siR-NPs can restrain lactate production via the downregulation of pyruvate kinase-M2 (PKM2) and eventually repolarize tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) from the M2-subtype to M1-subtype states. Meanwhile, SK/siR-NPs suppress regulatory T lymphocytes to fight with the ITM. Overall, the developed co-delivery system presents a significant potential for cancer immunotherapy through simultaneously inducing ICD, repolarizing M2-TAMs, and relieving PD-L1 pathway-regulated immune tolerance.

Metabolism in tumour-associated macrophages: a quid pro quo with the tumour microenvironment

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer worldwide. Recent studies demonstrated that the tumour microenvironment (TME) is pivotal for tumour progression, providing multiple targeting opportunities for therapeutic strategies. As one of the most abundant stromal cell types in the TME, tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) exhibit high plasticity. Malignant cells alter their metabolic profiles to adapt to the limited availability of oxygen and nutrients in the TME, resulting in functional alteration of TAMs. The metabolic features of TAMs are strongly associated with their functional plasticity, which further impacts metabolic profiling in the TME and contributes to tumourigenesis and progression. Here, we review the functional determination of the TME by TAM metabolic alterations, including glycolysis as well as fatty acid and amino acid metabolism, which in turn are influenced by environmental changes. Additionally, we discuss metabolic reprogramming of TAMs to a tumouricidal phenotype as a potential antitumoural therapeutic strategy.

Tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) display a high level of functional plasticity and altered metabolism symbolised by high sensitivity to the surrounding tumour microenvironment. The metabolism of TAMs provides novel therapeutic opportunities to treat cancer.https://bit.ly/31OqHhe

Improving safety of cancer immunotherapy via delivery technology

Breakthroughs in molecular mechanisms underlying immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment and paradigm shifts in the cancer-immunity response cycle have profoundly changed the landscape of cancer immunotherapy. However, one of the challenges is to mitigate the serious side effects caused by systemic autoimmunity and autoinflammatory responses following immunotherapy. Thus, restraining the activation of the immune system in healthy tissues is highly desirable to address this problem. Bioengineering and delivery technologies provide a solution to the issue. In this Review, we first introduce immune-related adverse effects of main immunotherapies and the underlying mechanisms, summarize strategies of designingde bioengineering and delivery systems to reduce their immunotoxicities, and highlight the importance of the development of immunotoxicity-related animal models.

Smart Nanosized Drug Delivery Systems Inducing Immunogenic Cell Death for Combination with Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy, which suppresses tumor relapse and metastasis by boosting host immunity and inducing long-term immune memory effects, is emerging as a vital approach to improve the prognosis of patients. Although remarkable efficacy has been observed in some patients, challenges including low response rate, drug resistance, and immune-related adverse effects still limit the clinical application of cancer immunotherapy in broad types of tumors. Immunotherapeutic agents are used to enhance tumor immunogenicity and reverse the effects of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (ITM), but the benefits of monotherapy are mild and transient due to off-target distribution of drugs. To overcome these issues, smart nanosized drug delivery systems (sNDDS) have been developed to enhance tissue specificity, co-deliver multiple drugs, prime immune cells, and amplify immune responses in tumors. Moreover, accumulating knowledge in cancer biology, immunology, and material science has also greatly promoted the development of sNDDS for enhancing cancer immunotherapy.In this Account, we will discuss the approaches of our group in designing sNDDS to induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) for combination with cancer immunotherapy. We propose a brief overview on the design of nanocarriers, intelligent moieties and immunotherapeutic agents in sNDDS. Then, we discuss the strategies to remodel ITM by leveraging ICD as well as cooperating with programmed cell death protein 1 ligand blockade and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 inhibition. We have synthesized a series of stimuli-responsive polymers and prodrugs to fabricate sNDDS and have integrated multiple immunotherapeutic drugs into one platform for combinational immunotherapy. Last, we present an outlook on future design of sNDDS and possible directions for enhancing cancer immunotherapy. Building on the concept of enhancing tumor immunogenicity and reversing ITM, we hope this Account will contribute to the rational design of sNDDS for co-delivery of multiple drugs with amplified immunotherapeutic efficacy.

Rational Design of a Robust Antibody-like Small-Molecule Inhibitor Nanoplatform for Enhanced Photoimmunotherapy

Immune checkpoint blockade of the programmed cell death-ligand 1/programmed cell death-1 (PD-L1/PD-1) pathway via an antibody is a potent strategy for T cell remodeling. Nevertheless, the potency of the antibody is partly compromised by its high price, instability, risk of autoimmune disease, and so forth. Small-molecule inhibitors are interesting alternatives to antibodies. However, tumor-specific delivery of small-molecule inhibitors to the target site for boosting the interruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway is rarely reported. Herein, we designed a tumor-specific delivery nanoplatform that could efficiently deliver the small-molecule inhibitor to the precise target site, greatly enhancing the blocking effect of the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway. Hyaluronic acid (HA) was conjugated with chlorin e6 (Ce6), resulting in a HA-Ce6 conjugate (HC). The nanoplatform was constructed by the HC micelles with the encapsulation of small-molecule inhibitor, BMS 202 (BMS), to form BMS/HC micelles. The target property of HA, combined with the hyaluronidase-induced degradation of HA in the tumor site, enables the as-prepared micelles with tumor-specific delivery of BMS for blocking the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway. With cooperative treatment with the photosensitizer Ce6, the present therapeutic nanoplatform demonstrated excellent photoimmunotherapy for tumor regression in distant tumors and lung metastasis. This strategy of tumor-specific delivery of small-molecule inhibitors provides an effective pathway to strengthen the blocking efficacy of PD-L1/PD-1 on effective photoimmunotherapy.

Lactoferrin, a multi-functional glycoprotein: Active therapeutic, drug nanocarrier & targeting ligand

Recent progress in protein-based nanomedicine, inspired by the success of Abraxane® albumin-paclitaxel nanoparticles, have resulted in novel therapeutics used for treatment of challenging diseases like cancer and viral infections. However, absence of specific drug targeting, poor pharmacokinetics, premature drug release, and off-target toxicity are still formidable challenges in the clinic. Therefore, alternative protein-based nanomedicines were developed to overcome those challenges. In this regard, lactoferrin (Lf), a glycoprotein of transferrin family, offers a promising biodegradable well tolerated material that could be exploited both as an active therapeutic and drug nanocarrier. This review highlights the major pharmacological actions of Lf including anti-cancer, antiviral, and immunomodulatory actions. Delivery technologies of Lf to improve its pries and enhance its efficacy were also reviewed. Moreover, different nano-engineering strategies used for fabrication of drug-loaded Lf nanocarriers were discussed. In addition, the use of Lf for functionalization of drug nanocarriers with emphasis on tumor-targeted drug delivery was illustrated. Besides its wide application in oncology nano-therapeutics, we discussed the recent advances of Lf-based nanocarriers as efficient platforms for delivery of anti-parkinsonian, anti-Alzheimer, anti-viral drugs, immunomodulatory and bone engineering applications.

GSH depletion liposome adjuvant for augmenting the photothermal immunotherapy of breast cancer

The high redox level of tumor microenvironment inhibits the oxidation treatment and the immune response. Here, we innovatively develop maleimide liposome (ML) adjuvants to promote immunogenic cell death (ICD) induction and dendritic cells (DCs) maturation by glutathione (GSH) depletion for augmenting the photothermal immunotherapy of breast cancer. The ML effectively depletes the intracellular GSH and up-regulates reactive oxygen species (ROS) in both tumor cells and DCs. In tumor cells, the ROS boosted the ABTS·⁺ production to activate photothermal-induced ICD. In DCs, it relieved the immunosuppression, promoting DC maturation (57%) and antigen presenting. As a result of the ML assistant, the therapeutic systems improved the infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells to 53% in tumor tissues, eliciting strong abscopal effect and antimetastasis effect. The MLs were believed to be a superior candidate of adjuvants for enhancing immune response and cancer therapeutic efficacy.

Charge and Size Dual Switchable Nanocage for Novel Triple-Interlocked Combination Therapy Pattern

Combination therapy is a current hot topic in cancer treatment. Multiple synergistic effects elicited by combined drugs are essential in improving antitumor activity. Herein, a pH-triggered charge and size dual switchable nanocage co-loaded with abemaciclib and IMD-0354 (PA/PI-ND) is reported, exhibiting a novel triple-interlocked combination of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and chemoimmunotherapy. The charge reversal polymer NGR-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(l-lysine)-dimethylmaleic anhydride (NGR-PEG-PLL-DMA, ND) in PA/PI-ND promotes the pH-triggered charge reversal from negative to positive and size reduction from about 180 to 10 nm in an acidic tumor microenvironment, which greatly enhances cellular uptake and tumor tissue deep penetration. With the PA/PI-ND triple-interlocked combination therapy, the chemotherapeutic effect is enhanced by the action of abemaciclib to induce cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase, together with the reduction in cyclin D levels caused by IMD-0354. The dual anti-tumor promoting immunotherapy is achieved by abemaciclib selectively inhibiting the proliferation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and by IMD-0354 promoting tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) repolarization from an M2 to M1 phenotype. Furthermore, PA/PI-ND has improved anti-tumor efficiency resulting from the third synergistic effect provided by chemoimmunotherapy. Taken together, PA/PI-ND is a promising strategy to guide the design of future drug delivery carriers and cancer combination therapy.

Targeting cancer with lactoferrin nanoparticles: recent advances

Lactoferrin, an iron storage protein, is known for its microbicidal activity and its ability to modulate the immune system, mediated through specific interactions with receptors on cell surfaces for internalization. These activities confer a significant versatility to lactoferrin, presenting it as a targeting ligand to disease-bearing cells. Early efforts in developing targeted delivery systems have focused on nano- and microcomposites comprised of metal and polymeric materials. These can be targeted through conjugation or adsorption of lactoferrin to achieve recognition to receptor-expressing cells. More recently, efforts are underway to utilize lactoferrin itself as a medium in loading the therapeutic agent. The functional efficiency of drug-loaded lactoferrin nanoparticles has been evaluated in different disease conditions such as cancer, HIV, Parkinson's disease, etc. This review will present the details of composition and performance of various delivery systems designed and developed using lactoferrin as targeting agent for the treatment of cancer.

Ferroptosis, necroptosis, and pyroptosis in anticancer immunity

In recent years, cancer immunotherapy based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has achieved considerable success in the clinic. However, ICIs are significantly limited by the fact that only one third of patients with most types of cancer respond to these agents. The induction of cell death mechanisms other than apoptosis has gradually emerged as a new cancer treatment strategy because most tumors harbor innate resistance to apoptosis. However, to date, the possibility of combining these two modalities has not been discussed systematically. Recently, a few studies revealed crosstalk between distinct cell death mechanisms and antitumor immunity. The induction of pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and necroptosis combined with ICIs showed synergistically enhanced antitumor activity, even in ICI-resistant tumors. Immunotherapy-activated CD8+ T cells are traditionally believed to induce tumor cell death via the following two main pathways: (i) perforin-granzyme and (ii) Fas-FasL. However, recent studies identified a new mechanism by which CD8+ T cells suppress tumor growth by inducing ferroptosis and pyroptosis, which provoked a review of the relationship between tumor cell death mechanisms and immune system activation. Hence, in this review, we summarize knowledge of the reciprocal interaction between antitumor immunity and distinct cell death mechanisms, particularly necroptosis, ferroptosis, and pyroptosis, which are the three potentially novel mechanisms of immunogenic cell death. Because most evidence is derived from studies using animal and cell models, we also reviewed related bioinformatics data available for human tissues in public databases, which partially confirmed the presence of interactions between tumor cell death and the activation of antitumor immunity.

Carrier-Free Small-Molecule Drug Nanoassembly Elicits Chemoimmunotherapy via Co-inhibition of PD-L1/mTOR

The growth and progression of tumor are promoted by multiple cytokines, which are overactivated in the tumor microenvironment. Co-inhibiting the activities of these cytokines is expected to realize the enhanced therapeutic outcome of cancer. However, reasonable combinational strategies are still limited. Herein, a nanoassembly structure that was totally formed by the assembly of small-molecule inhibitors is constructed for the co-inhibition of mTOR and PD-L1. Together with the NIR dye IR783, Rapa and (+)-JQ1 assemble to form a stable nanoassembly structure with controllable particle size. The JQ1/Rapa-IR783 nanoassembly efficiently downregulates the PD-L1 level as well as the level of PKM2. The combination of Rapa and (+)-JQ1 enhances the apoptosis of cancer cells compared with that following treatment with Rapa or (+)-JQ1 alone. In vivo assays conducted to evaluate tumor growth inhibition mediated by the nanoassemblies revealed that the simultaneous delivery of Rapa and (+)-JQ1 not only inhibited the growth of primary tumors but also alleviated pulmonary metastasis by reinvigorating the immune system as the result of the downregulation of both mTOR and PD-L1. It demonstrates that the nanoassembly structure is a promising candidate for the codelivery of immunomodulator for enhanced cancer immunotherapy.

A Review on Nano-Based Drug Delivery System for Cancer Chemoimmunotherapy

Although notable progress has been made on novel cancer treatments, the overall survival rate and therapeutic effects are still unsatisfactory for cancer patients. Chemoimmunotherapy, combining chemotherapeutics and immunotherapeutic drugs, has emerged as a promising approach for cancer treatment, with the advantages of cooperating two kinds of treatment mechanism, reducing the dosage of the drug and enhancing therapeutic effect. Moreover, nano-based drug delivery system (NDDS) was applied to encapsulate chemotherapeutic agents and exhibited outstanding properties such as targeted delivery, tumor microenvironment response and site-specific release. Several nanocarriers have been approved in clinical cancer chemotherapy and showed significant improvement in therapeutic efficiency compared with traditional formulations, such as liposomes (Doxil®, Lipusu®), nanoparticles (Abraxane®) and micelles (Genexol-PM®). The applications of NDDS to chemoimmunotherapy would be a powerful strategy for future cancer treatment, which could greatly enhance the therapeutic efficacy, reduce the side effects and optimize the clinical outcomes of cancer patients. Herein, the current approaches of cancer immunotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy were discussed, and recent advances of NDDS applied for chemoimmunotherapy were further reviewed.

Nanoengineered targeting strategy for cancer immunotherapy

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.

Protonation-Activity Relationship of Bioinspired Ionizable Glycomimetics for the Growth Inhibition of Bacteria

Variations in physiological parameters (i.e., pH, redox potential, and ions) for distinct types of diseases make them attractive targets. Ionizable groups capable of pH-dependent charge conversion impart pH-switchable materials under acid condition through the protonation effect, which stimulates the emergence of various pH-inspired materials. However, it is confusing to distinguish preferable groups for high-efficiency drug-delivery vehicles attributing to the lack of perceiving the relationship between protonation and activity. Herein, we developed a series of bioinspired ionizable glycomimetics responses to the ambient variation from physiological environment (pH 7.4) to bacterial infectious acidic microenvironment (pH 6.0) to explore the protonation-activity relationship of various ionizable groups. The nanoparticles are coated with bacterial adhesion molecules galactose and fucose to target Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Moreover, the particle cores were composed of ionizable polymers responding to acidic microenvironment changes and entrapped antibiotic payload. Ionizable glyconanoparticles targeted bacteria and local cues as triggers to transfer payloads in on-demand patterns for the inhibition of bacteria-related infection. Significantly, we find that the nanoparticles with the pH-sensitive block of ionizable poly(2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (pDPA) exhibit predominant bacterial adhesion and killing and growth inhibition of biofilm in acid environment (pH 6.0) due to the ionizable polymer protonation effect with more positive charge cooperated with the lectin-targeted effect of polysaccharide causing a huge bacterial aggregation and a highly favorable germicidal effect. The nanoparticles with poly(2-(hexamethyleneimino)ethyl methacrylate) (pHMEMA) have suboptimal antibacterial activity but advanced protonation at pH 6.3 compared to pDPA at 6.1, suggesting its selection as an applicable pH-switchable group for a slightly higher acid microenvironment like tumor (pH 6.9-6.5) because of the efficient performance after protonation than at deprotonation. On the other hand, the glycomimetic containing poly(2-(dibutylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (pDBA) as a pH-sensitive moiety displayed weak antimicrobial activity and superior stability before protonation (pH 4.7), which make it possible to prevent premature drug leakage, suggesting that pDBA is a good candidate to be applied to construct pH-sensitive drug-delivery carriers for the treatment of bacteria-related infection with a low acidic microenvironment. Overall, the structure-activity relationship of ionizable glycomimetics for the inhibition of bacteria signifies not only the development of a drug-delivery system but also the mechanism-dependent treatment of nanomedicine for infectious diseases.

Tumor immune microenvironment modulation-based drug delivery strategies for cancer immunotherapy

The past years have witnessed promising clinical feedback for anti-cancer immunotherapies, which have become one of the hot research topics; however, they are limited by poor delivery kinetics, narrow patient response profiles, and systemic side effects. To the best of our knowledge, the development of cancer is highly associated with the immune system, especially the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Based on the comprehensive understanding of the complexity and diversity of TIME, drug delivery strategies focused on the modulation of TIME can be of great significance for directing and improving cancer immunotherapy. This review highlights the TIME modulation in cancer immunotherapy and summarizes the versatile TIME modulation-based cancer immunotherapeutic strategies, medicative principles and accessory biotechniques for further clinical transformation. Remarkably, the recent advances of cancer immunotherapeutic drug delivery systems and future prospects of TIME modulation-based drug delivery systems for much more controlled and precise cancer immunotherapy will be emphatically discussed.

Nanoparticles Loaded with the BET Inhibitor JQ1 Block the Growth of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo

Inhibition of bromo-and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins, epigenetic regulators of genes involved in cell viability, has been efficiently tested in preclinical models of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, the use of the selective BET-inhibitor JQ1 on humans is limited by its very short half-life. Herein, we developed, characterized and tested a novel formulation of nanoparticles containing JQ1 (N-JQ1) against TNBC in vitro and in vivo. N-JQ1, prepared using the nanoprecipitation method of preformedpoly-lactid-co-glycolic acid in an aqueous solution containing JQ1 and poloxamer-188 as a stabilizer, presented a high physico-chemical stability. Treatment of MDA-MB 157 and MDA-MB 231 TNBC cells with N-JQ1 determined a significant decrease in cell viability, adhesion and migration. Intra-peritoneal administration (5 days/week for two weeks) of N-JQ1 in nude mice hosting a xenograft TNBC after flank injection of MDA-MB-231 cells determined a great reduction in the growth and vascularity of the neoplasm. Moreover, the treatment resulted in a minimal infiltration of nearby tissues. Finally, the encapsulation of JQ1 in nanoparticles improved the anticancer efficacy of this epigenetic compound against TNBC in vitro and in vivo, opening the way to test it in the treatment of TNBC.

JQ1-Loaded Polydopamine Nanoplatform Inhibits c-MYC/Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 to Enhance Photothermal Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade has achieved great success in cancer immunotherapy; however, the response of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) to PD-L1 antibodies is limited. To address this challenge, we use the bromodomain and extra-terminal inhibitor JQ1 to down-regulate the expression of PD-L1 and thus elicit the immune response to TNBC instead of using antibodies to block PD-L1. JQ1 also inhibits the growth of TNBC as a targeted therapeutic agent by inhibiting the BRD4-c-MYC axis. The polydopamine nanoparticles (PDMNs) are introduced as a biodegradable and adaptable platform to load JQ1 and induce photothermal therapy (PTT) as another synergistic therapeutic modality. Because the JQ1-loaded PDMNs (PDMN-JQ1) are self-degradable and release JQ1 continuously, this synergistic treatment can lead to remarkable activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and induce a strong immune-memory effect to protect mice from tumor re-challenge. Taken together, our study demonstrates a compact and simple nanoplatform for triple therapy, including targeted therapy, PTT, and immunotherapy, for TNBC treatment.

Extent and characteristics of immune infiltration in clear cell renal cell carcinoma and the prognostic value

Background

Immune infiltration has an important impact on the development of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). This article aims to investigate the association between immune infiltration and the clinical features as well as prognosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Methods

Analyze the immune infiltration in ccRCC by applying ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT methods on basic of dataset in TCGA and GEO. And identify the kind of immune cell and genes that may play the central role.

Results

High Immune score and high property of T-regs are both significantly associated with the poor OS, high stage and more chances of metastases in ccRCC. CXCL-1, SAA1, PMCH, CCL-5 are all significantly negatively correlated to OS and positively correlated to stage and chance of metastases in ccRCC. High property of T-regs, CXCL-1 and SAA1 are also significantly associated with high Fuhrman grade while PMCH and CCL5 not.

Conclusions

Immune infiltration in RCC has a negative influence on ccRCC and T-regs may play a vital role in this process mediated by CXCL-1 or SSA1.

Combretastatin A4 Nanoparticles Combined with Hypoxia-Sensitive Imiquimod: A New Paradigm for the Modulation of Host Immunological Responses during Cancer Treatment

Vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) have great potential in cancer treatment. However, in addition to their direct tumoral vascular collapse effect, VDAs activate host immunological responses, which can remarkably impair their anticancer efficacy. Here, a VDA nanomedicine, poly(l-glutamic acid)-graft-methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)/combretastatin A4 (CA4-NPs), is found to induce the intratumor infiltration of immature plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), thereby curtailing anticancer immunity. To overcome this problem, hypoxia-sensitive imiquimod (hs-IMQ) is developed, which is selectively activated into imiquimod (IMQ) in treated tumors following the catalysis of CA4-NPs-induced nitroreductase (NTR). The combination of hs-IMQ and CA4-NPs causes a 6.3-fold enhancement of active IMQ concentration in tumors, as compared to hs-IMQ treatment alone. The in situ-generated IMQ alters the tumor microenvironment from a state of immunosuppression to immune activation. Hs-IMQ achieves this effect through the conversion of immature pDCs into their active form, leading to the robust infiltration and priming of natural killer cells and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes in treated tumors. Thus, the CA4-NPs and hs-IMQ combination treatment synergistically inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. This work offers new approaches to harness intratumor pDCs to reverse the immune suppression resulting from VDA treatment. These findings additionally provide a mechanistic rationale for the use of VDAs in combination with TLR agonists to trigger in situ immune activation and enhance anticancer efficacy.

The roles of glucose metabolic reprogramming in chemo- and radio-resistance

Reprogramming of cancer metabolism is a newly recognized hallmark of malignancy. The aberrant glucose metabolism is associated with dramatically increased bioenergetics, biosynthetic, and redox demands, which is vital to maintain rapid cell proliferation, tumor progression, and resistance to chemotherapy and radiation. When the glucose metabolism of cancer is rewiring, the characters of cancer will also occur corresponding changes to regulate the chemo- and radio-resistance of cancer. The procedure is involved in the alteration of many activities, such as the aberrant DNA repairing, enhanced autophagy, oxygen-deficient environment, and increasing exosomes secretions, etc. Targeting altered metabolic pathways related with the glucose metabolism has become a promising anti-cancer strategy. This review summarizes recent progress in our understanding of glucose metabolism in chemo- and radio-resistance malignancy, and highlights potential molecular targets and their inhibitors for cancer treatment.