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Huppertsberg A, Kaps L, Zhong Z, Schmitt S, Stickdorn J, Deswarte K, Combes F, Czysch C, De Vrieze J, Kasmi S, Choteschovsky N, Klefenz A, Medina-Montano C, Winterwerber P, Chen C, Bros M, Lienenklaus S, Sanders NN, Koynov K, Schuppan D, Lambrecht BN, David SA, De Geest BG, Nuhn L. Squaric Ester-Based, pH-Degradable Nanogels: Modular Nanocarriers for Safe, Systemic Administration of Toll-like Receptor 7/8 Agonistic Immune Modulators. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:9872-9883. [PMID: 34166595 PMCID: PMC8267846 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c03772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Small-molecular Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) agonists hold promise as immune modulators for a variety of immune therapeutic purposes including cancer therapy or vaccination. However, due to their rapid systemic distribution causing difficult-to-control inflammatory off-target effects, their application is still problematic, in particular systemically. To address this problem, we designed and robustly fabricated pH-responsive nanogels serving as versatile immunodrug nanocarriers for safe delivery of TLR7/8-stimulating imidazoquinolines after intravenous administration. To this aim, a primary amine-reactive methacrylamide monomer bearing a pendant squaric ester amide is introduced, which is polymerized under controlled RAFT polymerization conditions. Corresponding PEG-derived squaric ester amide block copolymers self-assemble into precursor micelles in polar protic solvents. Their cores are amine-reactive and can sequentially be transformed by acid-sensitive cross-linkers, dyes, and imidazoquinolines. Remaining squaric ester amides are hydrophilized affording fully hydrophilic nanogels with profound stability in human plasma but stimuli-responsive degradation upon exposure to endolysosomal pH conditions. The immunomodulatory behavior of the imidazoquinolines alone or conjugated to the nanogels was demonstrated by macrophages in vitro. In vivo, however, we observed a remarkable impact of the nanogel: After intravenous injection, a spatially controlled immunostimulatory activity was evident in the spleen, whereas systemic off-target inflammatory responses triggered by the small-molecular imidazoquinoline analogue were absent. These findings underline the potential of squaric ester-based, pH-degradable nanogels as a promising platform to permit intravenous administration routes of small-molecular TLR7/8 agonists and, thus, the opportunity to explore their adjuvant potency for systemic vaccination or cancer immunotherapy purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Leonard Kaps
- Institute
for Translational Immunology and Research Center for Immune Therapy,
University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University
Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
- Department
of Internal Medicine I, University Medical
Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Zifu Zhong
- Department
of Pharmaceutics and Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
| | - Sascha Schmitt
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Kim Deswarte
- Department
of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Ghent
University, VIB Center for Inflammation Research, Ghent 9052, Belgium
| | - Francis Combes
- Laboratory
of Gene Therapy, Department of Nutrition, Genetics and Ethology, Ghent University, Merelbeke 9820, Belgium
| | | | - Jana De Vrieze
- Department
of Pharmaceutics and Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
| | - Sabah Kasmi
- Department
of Pharmaceutics and Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
| | - Niklas Choteschovsky
- Institute
for Translational Immunology and Research Center for Immune Therapy,
University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University
Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Adrian Klefenz
- Institute
for Translational Immunology and Research Center for Immune Therapy,
University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University
Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Carolina Medina-Montano
- Department
of Dermatology, University Medical Center
of Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Chaojian Chen
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Matthias Bros
- Department
of Dermatology, University Medical Center
of Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Stefan Lienenklaus
- Institute
for Laboratory Animal Science and Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Niek N. Sanders
- Laboratory
of Gene Therapy, Department of Nutrition, Genetics and Ethology, Ghent University, Merelbeke 9820, Belgium
| | - Kaloian Koynov
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Detlef Schuppan
- Institute
for Translational Immunology and Research Center for Immune Therapy,
University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University
Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
- Division
of Gastroenterology, Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Bart N. Lambrecht
- Department
of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Ghent
University, VIB Center for Inflammation Research, Ghent 9052, Belgium
- Department
of Pulmonary Medicine, Erasmus University
Medical Center, Rotterdam 3015, Netherlands
| | | | - Bruno G. De Geest
- Department
of Pharmaceutics and Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium
| | - Lutz Nuhn
- Max
Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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