A Therapeutic Nanovaccine that Generates Anti-Amyloid Antibodies and Amyloid-specific Regulatory T Cells for Alzheimer's Disease

Engineering customized nanovaccines for enhanced cancer immunotherapy

Nanovaccines have gathered significant attention for their potential to elicit tumor-specific immunological responses. Despite notable progress in tumor immunotherapy, nanovaccines still encounter considerable challenges such as low delivery efficiency, limited targeting ability, and suboptimal efficacy. With an aim of addressing these issues, engineering customized nanovaccines through modification or functionalization has emerged as a promising approach. These tailored nanovaccines not only enhance antigen presentation, but also effectively modulate immunosuppression within the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, they are distinguished by their diverse sizes, shapes, charges, structures, and unique physicochemical properties, along with targeting ligands. These features of nanovaccines facilitate lymph node accumulation and activation/regulation of immune cells. This overview of bespoke nanovaccines underscores their potential in both prophylactic and therapeutic applications, offering insights into their future development and role in cancer immunotherapy.

A Journey of Challenges and Victories: A Bibliometric Worldview of Nanomedicine since the 21st Century

Nanotechnology profoundly affects the advancement of medicine. Limitations in diagnosing and treating cancer and chronic diseases promote the growth of nanomedicine. However, there are very few analytical and descriptive studies regarding the trajectory of nanomedicine, key research powers, present research landscape, focal investigative points, and future outlooks. Herein, articles and reviews published in the Science Citation Index Expanded of Web of Science Core Collection from first January 2000 to 18th July 2023 are analyzed. Herein, a bibliometric visualization of publication trends, countries/regions, institutions, journals, research categories, themes, references, and keywords is produced and elaborated. Nanomedicine-related academic output is increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic, solidifying the uneven global distribution of research performance. While China leads in terms of publication quantity and has numerous highly productive institutions, the USA has advantages in academic impact, commercialization, and industrial value. Nanomedicine integrates with other disciplines, establishing interdisciplinary platforms, in which drug delivery and nanoparticles remain focal points. Current research focuses on integrating nanomedicine and cell ferroptosis induction in cancer immunotherapy. The keyword "burst testing" identifies promising research directions, including immunogenic cell death, chemodynamic therapy, tumor microenvironment, immunotherapy, and extracellular vesicles. The prospects, major challenges, and barriers to addressing these directions are discussed.

The role of T-lymphocytes in central nervous system diseases

The central nervous system (CNS) has been considered an immunologically privileged site. In the past few decades, research on inflammation in CNS diseases has mostly focused on microglia, innate immune cells that respond rapidly to injury and infection to maintain CNS homeostasis. Discoveries of lymphatic vessels within the dura mater and peripheral immune cells in the meningeal layer indicate that the peripheral immune system can monitor and intervene in the CNS. This review summarizes recent advances in the involvement of T lymphocytes in multiple CNS diseases, including brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases, and psychiatric disorders. It emphasizes that a deep understanding of the pathogenesis of CNS diseases requires intimate knowledge of T lymphocytes. Aiming to promote a better understanding of the relationship between the immune system and CNS and facilitate the development of therapeutic strategies targeting T lymphocytes in neurological diseases.

Combining Multifunctional Delivery System with Blood-Brain Barrier Reversible Opening Strategy for the Enhanced Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative illness characterized by intracellular tau-phosphorylation, β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques accumulation, neuroinflammation, and impaired behavioral ability. Owing to the lack of effective brain delivery approaches and the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), current AD therapeutic endeavors are severely limited. Herein, a multifunctional delivery system (RVG-DDQ/PDP@siBACE1) is elaborately combined with a protein kinase B (AKT) agonist (SC79) for facilitating RVG-DDQ/PDP@siBACE1 to target and penetrate BBB, enter brain parenchyma, and further accumulate in AD brain lesion. Moreover, compared with the unitary dose of RVG-DDQ/PDP@siBACE1, this collaborative therapy strategy exhibits a distinctive synergistic function including scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), decreasing of Aβ production, alleviating neuroinflammation by promoting the polarized microglia into the anti-inflammatory M2-like phenotype and significantly enhancing the cognitive functions of AD mice. More strikingly, according to these results, an innovative signaling pathway "lncRNA MALAT1/miR-181c/BCL2L11" is found that can mediate the neuronal apoptosis of AD. Taken together, combining the brain targeted delivery system with noninvasive BBB opening can provide a promising strategy and platform for targeting treatment of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Recent trends in treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease and the challenges: A topical advancement

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is an irreversible and progressive neurological disease that has affected at least 50 million people around the globe. Considering the severity of the disease and the continuous increase in the number of patients, the development of new effective drugs or intervention strategies for AD has become urgent. AD is caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, but its exact cause has not yet been clarified. Given the current challenges being faced in the clinical treatment of AD, such as complex AD pathological network and insufficient early diagnosis, herein, we have focused on the three core pathological features of AD, including amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation, tau phosphorylation and tangles, and activation of inflammatory factors. In this review, we have briefly underscored the primary evidence supporting each pathology and discuss AD pathological network among Aβ, tau, and inflammation. We have also comprehensively summarized the most instructive drugs and their treatment strategies against Aβ, tau, or neuroinflammation used in basic research and clinical trials. Finally, we have discussed and outlined the pros and cons of each pathological approach and looked forward to potential personalized diagnosis and treatment strategies that are beneficial to AD patients.

Treatment with glatiramer acetate in APPswe/PS1dE9 mice at an early stage of Alzheimer's disease prior to amyloid-beta deposition delays the disease's pathological development and ameliorates cognitive decline

Background

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by neuroinflammation, which is frequently accompanied by immune system dysfunction. Although the mechanism of neurodegenerative lesions is unclear, various clinical trials have highlighted that early intervention in AD is crucial to the success of treatment. In order to explore the potential of immunotherapy in the early period of AD, the present study evaluated whether application of glatiramer acetate (GA), an immunomodulatory agent approved for remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis (RRMS), in the early stages of AD prior to amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition altered the Aβ pathology and cognitive impairments in APPswe/PSEN1dE9 (APP/PS1) transgenic mice.

Methods

We treated two cohorts of pre-depositing and amyloid-depositing (2- and 6-month-old) APP/PS1 mice with weekly-GA subcutaneous injection over a 12-week period. We then tested spatial learning and memory using the Morris water maze (MWM) and the Y maze. Immunohistochemistry staining was utilized to analyze Aβ burden in the brain as well as activated microglia. Furthermore, the inflammatory cytokine milieu within brains was estimated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and the peripheral CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the spleen were measured by flow cytometry.

Results

We found that early GA administration reduced Aβ burden and ameliorated cognitive decline. Meanwhile, the immune microenvironment had changed in the brain, with an increase in the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines and a decrease in microglial activation. Interestingly, early GA administration also modulated the peripheral immune system through the amplification of Tregs in the spleen.

Conclusion

Overall, our findings revealed that GA treatment might enhance the central and peripheral immune systems' protective capabilities in the early stages of AD, eventually improving cognitive deficits. Our research supports the advantages of immunomodulatory treatments for AD at an early stage.

Amyloid-β specific regulatory T cells attenuate Alzheimer's disease pathobiology in APP/PS1 mice

BACKGROUND

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) maintain immune tolerance. While Treg-mediated neuroprotective activities are now well-accepted, the lack of defined antigen specificity limits their therapeutic potential. This is notable for neurodegenerative diseases where cell access to injured brain regions is required for disease-specific therapeutic targeting and improved outcomes. To address this need, amyloid-beta (Aβ) antigen specificity was conferred to Treg responses by engineering the T cell receptor (TCR) specific for Aβ (TCRAβ). The TCRAb were developed from disease-specific T cell effector (Teff) clones. The ability of Tregs expressing a transgenic TCRAβ (TCRAβ -Tregs) to reduce Aβ burden, transform effector to regulatory cells, and reverse disease-associated neurotoxicity proved beneficial in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease.

METHODS

TCRAβ -Tregs were generated by CRISPR-Cas9 knockout of endogenous TCR and consequent incorporation of the transgenic TCRAb identified from Aβ reactive Teff monoclones. Antigen specificity was confirmed by MHC-Aβ-tetramer staining. Adoptive transfer of TCRAβ-Tregs to mice expressing a chimeric mouse-human amyloid precursor protein and a mutant human presenilin-1 followed measured behavior, immune, and immunohistochemical outcomes.

RESULTS

TCRAβ-Tregs expressed an Aβ-specific TCR. Adoptive transfer of TCRAβ-Tregs led to sustained immune suppression, reduced microglial reaction, and amyloid loads. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose radiolabeled TCRAβ-Treg homed to the brain facilitating antigen specificity. Reduction in amyloid load was associated with improved cognitive functions.

CONCLUSIONS

TCRAβ-Tregs reduced amyloid burden, restored brain homeostasis, and improved learning and memory, supporting the increased therapeutic benefit of antigen specific Treg immunotherapy for AD.

A Personalized Cancer Nanovaccine that Enhances T-Cell Responses and Efficacy Through Dual Interactions with Dendritic Cells and T Cells

Conventional approaches to developing therapeutic cancer vaccines that primarily activate tumor-specific T cells via dendritic cells (DCs) often demonstrate limited efficacy due to the suboptimal activation of these T cells. To address this limitation, here a therapeutic cancer nanovaccine is developed that enhances T cell responses by interacting with both DCs and T cells. The nanovaccine is based on a cancer cell membrane nanoparticle (CCM-MPLA) that utilizes monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) as an adjuvant. To allow direct interaction between the nanovaccine and tumor-specific T cells, anti-CD28 antibodies (aCD28) are conjugated onto CCM-MPLA, resulting in CCM-MPLA-aCD28. This nanovaccine activates tumor-specific CD8+ T cells in both the presence and absence of DCs. Compared with nanovaccines that interact with either DCs (CCM-MPLA) or T cells (CCM-aCD28), CCM-MPLA-aCD28 induces more potent responses of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells and exhibits a higher antitumor efficacy in tumor-bearing mice. No differences in T cell activation efficiency and therapeutic efficacy are observed between CCM-MPLA and CCM-aCD28. This approach may lead to the development of effective personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines prepared from autologous cancer cells.

The Major Hypotheses of Alzheimer's Disease: Related Nanotechnology-Based Approaches for Its Diagnosis and Treatment

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a well-known chronic neurodegenerative disorder that leads to the progressive death of brain cells, resulting in memory loss and the loss of other critical body functions. In March 2019, one of the major pharmaceutical companies and its partners announced that currently, there is no drug to cure AD, and all clinical trials of the new ones have been cancelled, leaving many people without hope. However, despite the clear message and startling reality, the research continued. Finally, in the last two years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first-ever medications to treat Alzheimer's, aducanumab and lecanemab. Despite researchers' support of this decision, there are serious concerns about their effectiveness and safety. The validation of aducanumab by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is still pending, and lecanemab was authorized without considering data from the phase III trials. Furthermore, numerous reports suggest that patients have died when undergoing extended treatment. While there is evidence that aducanumab and lecanemab may provide some relief to those suffering from AD, their impact remains a topic of ongoing research and debate within the medical community. The fact is that even though there are considerable efforts regarding pharmacological treatment, no definitive cure for AD has been found yet. Nevertheless, it is strongly believed that modern nanotechnology holds promising solutions and effective clinical strategies for the development of diagnostic tools and treatments for AD. This review summarizes the major hallmarks of AD, its etiological mechanisms, and challenges. It explores existing diagnostic and therapeutic methods and the potential of nanotechnology-based approaches for recognizing and monitoring patients at risk of irreversible neuronal degeneration. Overall, it provides a broad overview for those interested in the evolving areas of clinical neuroscience, AD, and related nanotechnology. With further research and development, nanotechnology-based approaches may offer new solutions and hope for millions of people affected by this devastating disease.

Looking Back, Moving Forward: Lipid Nanoparticles as a Promising Frontier in Gene Delivery

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have shown remarkable success in delivering genetic materials like COVID-19 LNP vaccines, such as mRNA-1273/SpikeVax by Moderna and BNT162b2/Comirnaty by BioNTech/Pfizer, as well as siRNA for rare inherited diseases, such as Onpattro from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. These LNPs are advantageous since they minimize side effects, target specific cells, and regulate payload delivery. There has been a surge of interest in these particles due to their success stories; however, we still do not know much about how they work. This perspective will recapitulate the evolution of lipid-based gene delivery, starting with Felgner's pioneering 1987 PNAS paper, which introduced the initial DNA-transfection method utilizing a synthetic cationic lipid. Our journey takes us to the early 2020s, a time when advancements in bionano interactions enabled us to create biomimetic lipoplexes characterized by a remarkable ability to evade capture by immune cells in vivo. Through this overview, we propose leveraging previous achievements to assist us in formulating improved research goals when optimizing LNPs for medical conditions such as infectious diseases, cancer, and heritable disorders.

Differential roles of regulatory T cells in Alzheimer's disease

Regulatory T (Treg) cells interact with a variety of resident cells and infiltrated immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS) to modulate neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide deposition and secondary persistent inflammation due to activation of microglia, astrocytes, and infiltrated immune cells contribute to Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related neurodegeneration. The majority of evidence supports the neuroprotective effects of Treg cells in AD. In the early stages of AD, appropriate Treg cell activity is required for the induction of microglia and astrocyte phagocytic activity in order to clear A deposits and prevent neuroinflammation. Such neuroprotective impacts were in part attributed to the ability of Treg cells to suppress deleterious and/or boost beneficial functions of microglia/astrocytes. In the later stages of AD, an effective Treg cell activity needs to prevent neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration. Treg cells can exert preventive effects on Th1-, and Th17 cell-related pathologic responses, whilst potentiating Th2-mediated protective activity. The impaired Treg cell-related immunomodulatory mechanisms have been described in AD patients and in related animal models which can contribute to the onset and progression of AD. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive figure regarding the role of Treg cells in AD while highlighting potential therapeutic approaches.

Emerging nanotechnology for Alzheimer's disease: From detection to treatment

Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the most common chronic neurodegenerative diseases, is characterized by memory impairment, synaptic dysfunction, and character mutations. The pathological features of AD are Aβ accumulation, tau protein enrichment, oxidative stress, and immune inflammation. Since the pathogenesis of AD is complicated and ambiguous, it is still challenging to achieve early detection and timely treatment of AD. Due to the unique physical, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of nanoparticles (NPs), nanotechnology has shown great potential for detecting and treating AD. This review provides an overview of the latest developments in AD detection via nanotechnology based on NPs with electrochemical sensing, optical sensing, and imaging techniques. Meanwhile, we highlight the important advances in nanotechnology-based AD treatment through targeting disease biomarkers, stem-cell therapy and immunotherapy. Furthermore, we summarize the current challenges and present a promising prospect for nanotechnology-based AD diagnosis and intervention.

Pathological BBB Crossing Melanin-Like Nanoparticles as Metal-Ion Chelators and Neuroinflammation Regulators against Alzheimer's Disease

Inflammatory responses, manifested in excessive oxidative stress and microglia overactivation, together with metal ion-triggered amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition, are critical hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The intricate pathogenesis causes severe impairment of neurons, which, in turn, exacerbates Aβ aggregation and facilitates AD progression. Herein, multifunctional melanin-like metal ion chelators and neuroinflammation regulators (named PDA@K) were constructed for targeted treatment of AD. In this platform, intrinsically bioactive material polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA) with potent metal ion chelating and ROS scavenging effects were decorated with the KLVFF peptide, endowing the system with the capacity of enhanced pathological blood-brain barrier (BBB) crossing and lesion site accumulation via Aβ hitchhiking. In vitro and in vivo experiment revealed that PDA@K had high affinity toward Aβ and were able to hitch a ride on Aβ to achieve increased pathological BBB crossing. The engineered PDA@K effectively mitigated Aβ aggregate and alleviated neuroinflammation. The modulated inflammatory microenvironment by PDA@K promoted microglial polarization toward the M2-like phenotype, which restored their critical functions for neuron care and plaque removal. After 3-week treatment of PDA@K, spatial learning and memory deficit as well as neurologic changes of FAD^4T transgenic mice were largely rescued. Transcriptomics analysis further revealed the therapeutic mechanism of PDA@K. Our study provided an appealing paradigm for directly utilizing intrinsic properties of nanomaterials as therapeutics for AD instead of just using them as nanocarriers, which largely widen the application of nanomaterials in AD therapy.

Immune-Modulating Lipid Nanomaterials for the Delivery of Biopharmaceuticals

In recent years, with the approval of preventative vaccines for pandemics, lipid nanoparticles have become a prominent RNA delivery vehicle. The lack of long-lasting effects of non-viral vectors is an advantage for infectious disease vaccines. With the introduction of microfluidic processes that facilitate the encapsulation of nucleic acid cargo, lipid nanoparticles are being studied as delivery vehicles for various RNA-based biopharmaceuticals. In particular, using microfluidic chip-based fabrication processes, nucleic acids such as RNA and proteins can be effectively incorporated into lipid nanoparticles and utilized as delivery vehicles for various biopharmaceuticals. Due to the successful development of mRNA therapies, lipid nanoparticles have emerged as a promising approach for the delivery of biopharmaceuticals. Biopharmaceuticals of various types (DNA, mRNA, short RNA, proteins) possess expression mechanisms that are suitable for manufacturing personalized cancer vaccines, while also requiring formulation with lipid nanoparticles. In this review, we describe the basic design of lipid nanoparticles, the types of biopharmaceuticals used as carriers, and the microfluidic processes involved. We then present research cases focusing on lipid-nanoparticle-based immune modulation and discuss the current status of commercially available lipid nanoparticles, as well as future prospects for the development of lipid nanoparticles for immune regulation purposes.

Iron Oxide Nanoparticle-Incorporated Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Alzheimer's Disease Treatment

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with multifactorial pathogenesis. However, most current therapeutic approaches for AD target a single pathophysiological mechanism, generally resulting in unsatisfactory therapeutic outcomes. Recently, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy, which targets multiple pathological mechanisms of AD, has been explored as a novel treatment. However, the low brain retention efficiency of administered MSCs limits their therapeutic efficacy. In addition, autologous MSCs from AD patients may have poor therapeutic abilities. Here, we overcome these limitations by developing iron oxide nanoparticle (IONP)-incorporated human Wharton's jelly-derived MSCs (MSC-IONPs). IONPs promote therapeutic molecule expression in MSCs. Following intracerebroventricular injection, MSC-IONPs showed a higher brain retention efficiency under magnetic guidance. This potentiates the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs in murine models of AD. Furthermore, human Wharton's jelly-derived allogeneic MSCs may exhibit higher therapeutic abilities than those of autologous MSCs in aged AD patients. This strategy may pave the way for developing MSC therapies for AD.