Novel HLA-A2 restricted antigenic peptide derivatives with high affinity for the treatment of breast cancer expressing NY-ESO-1

NY-ESO-1 antigen-antibody interaction process based on an TFBG plasmonic sensor

Autoantibodies against New York esophageal squamous cell cancer 1 (NY-ESO-1) play a crucial role in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. In this work, a surface plasmonic tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) biosensor is proposed for the detection of NY-ESO-1 antibody, as well as the investigation of the hook effect (which refers to the false negative result in some immunoassays when the concentration of antibodies in the sample is very high) during biomolecular binding between NY-ESO-1 antigen and antibody. The biosensor is made by an 18° TFBG coated with a 50-nm-thick gold film over the fiber surface together with NY-ESO-1 antigens attached to the metallic surface serving as bio-receptors. This biosensor can provide a limit of detection at a concentration of 2 × 10-7 µg/ml with a good linearity in the range from 2 × 10-7 to 2 × 10-5 µg/ml. For a concentration higher than 2 × 10-3 µg/ml, the performance of the sensor probe is reduced owing to the hook effect. Furthermore, experimental results have also demonstrated the repeatability of the proposed biosensor. This proposed biosensor features label-free, compactness, and fast response, which could be potentially applied in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

Phenylboronic ester-modified polymeric nanoparticles for promoting TRP2 peptide antigen delivery in cancer immunotherapy

The tremendous development of peptide-based cancer vaccine has attracted incremental interest as a powerful approach in cancer management, prevention and treatment. As successful as tumor vaccine has been, major challenges associated with achieving efficient immune response against cancer are (1) drainage to and retention in lymph nodes; (2) uptake by dendritic cells (DCs); (3) activation of DCs. In order to overcome these barriers, here we construct PBE-modified TRP2 nanovaccine, which comprises TRP2 peptide tumor antigen and diblock copolymer PEG-b-PAsp grafted with phenylboronic ester (PBE). We confirmed that this TRP2 nanovaccine can be effectively trapped into lymph node, uptake by dendritic cells and induce DC maturation, relying on increased negative charge, ROS response and pH response. Consistently, this vehicle loaded with TRP2 peptide could boost the strongest T cell immune response against melanoma in vivo and potentiate antitumor efficacy both in tumor prevention and tumor treatment without any exogenous adjuvant. Furthermore, the TRP2 nanovaccine can suppress the tumor growth and prolong animal survival time, which may result from its synergistic effect of inhibiting tumor immunosuppression and increasing cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL) response. Hence this type of PBE-modified nanovaccine would be widely used as a simple, safe and robust platform to deliver other antigen in cancer immunotherapy.

Design, synthesis and immunological evaluation of self-assembled antigenic peptides from dual-antigen targets: a broad-spectrum candidate for an effective antibreast cancer therapy

Background

Considering the narrow immune response spectrum of a single epitope, and the nanoparticles (NPs) as a novel adjuvant can achieve efficient delivery of antigenic peptides safely, a nano-system (denoted as DSPE-PEG-Man@EM-NPs) based on cathepsin B-responsive antigenic peptides was designed and synthesized.

Methods

Highly affinitive antigenic peptides were delivered by self-assembled NPs, and targeted erythrocyte membranes acted as a peptide carrier to improve antigenic peptides presentation and to strengthen cytotoxic T-cells reaction. Cathepsin B coupling could release antigenic peptides rapidly in dendritic cells.

Results

Evaluations showed that DSPE-PEG-Man@EM-NPs had obvious inhibitory effects towards both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines.

Conclusion

Overall, this strategy provides a novel strategy for boosting cytotoxic T lymphocytes response, thereby expanding the adaptation range of tumor antigenic peptides and improving the therapeutic effect of tumor immunotherapy with nanomedicine.