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Covarrubias G, Moon TJ, Loutrianakis G, Sims HM, Umapathy MP, Lorkowski ME, Bielecki PA, Wiese ML, Atukorale PU, Karathanasis E. Comparison of the uptake of untargeted and targeted immunostimulatory nanoparticles by immune cells in the microenvironment of metastatic breast cancer. J Mater Chem B 2022; 10:224-235. [PMID: 34846443 PMCID: PMC8732314 DOI: 10.1039/d1tb02256c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
To alter the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), we developed an immunostimulatory nanoparticle (NP) to reprogram a tumor's dysfunctional and inhibitory antigen-presenting cells (APCs) into properly activated APCs that stimulate tumor-reactive cytotoxic T cells. Importantly, systemic delivery allowed NPs to efficiently utilize the entire microvasculature and gain access into the majority of the perivascular TME, which coincided with the APC-rich tumor areas leading to uptake of the NPs predominantly by APCs. In this work, a 60 nm NP was loaded with a STING agonist, which triggered robust production of interferon β, resulting in activation of APCs. In addition to untargeted NPs, we employed 'mainstream' ligands targeting fibronectin, αvβ3 integrin and P-selectin that are commonly used to direct nanoparticles to tumors. Using the 4T1 mouse model, we assessed the microdistribution of the four NP variants in the tumor immune microenvironment in three different breast cancer landscapes, including primary tumor, early metastasis, and late metastasis. The different NP variants resulted in variable uptake by immune cell subsets depending on the organ and tumor stage. Among the NP variants, therapeutic studies indicated that the untargeted NPs and the integrin-targeting NPs exhibited a remarkable short- and long-term immune response and long-lasting antitumor effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gil Covarrubias
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
| | - Taylor J Moon
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
| | - Georgia Loutrianakis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
| | - Haley M Sims
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
| | - Mayura P Umapathy
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
| | - Morgan E Lorkowski
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
| | - Peter A Bielecki
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
| | - Michelle L Wiese
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
| | - Prabhani U Atukorale
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
| | - Efstathios Karathanasis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
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Covarrubias G, Lorkowski ME, Sims HM, Loutrianakis G, Rahmy A, Cha A, Abenojar E, Wickramasinghe S, Moon TJ, Samia ACS, Karathanasis E. Hyperthermia-mediated changes in the tumor immune microenvironment using iron oxide nanoparticles. Nanoscale Adv 2021; 3:5890-5899. [PMID: 34746645 PMCID: PMC8507876 DOI: 10.1039/d1na00116g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have often been investigated for tumor hyperthermia. IONPs act as heating foci in the presence of an alternating magnetic field (AMF). It has been shown that hyperthermia can significantly alter the tumor immune microenvironment. Typically, mild hyperthermia invokes morphological changes within the tumor, which elicits a secretion of inflammatory cytokines and tumor neoantigens. Here, we focused on the direct effect of IONP-induced hyperthermia on the various tumor-resident immune cell subpopulations. We compared direct intratumoral injection to systemic administration of IONPs followed by application of an external AMF. We used the orthotopic 4T1 mouse model, which represents aggressive and metastatic breast cancer with a highly immunosuppressive microenvironment. A non-inflamed and 'cold' microenvironment inhibits peripheral effector lymphocytes from effectively trafficking into the tumor. Using intratumoral or systemic injection, IONP-induced hyperthermia achieved a significant reduction of all the immune cell subpopulations in the tumor. However, the systemic delivery approach achieved superior outcomes, resulting in substantial reductions in the populations of both innate and adaptive immune cells. Upon depletion of the existing dysfunctional tumor-resident immune cells, subsequent treatment with clinically approved immune checkpoint inhibitors encouraged the repopulation of the tumor with 'fresh' infiltrating innate and adaptive immune cells, resulting in a significant decrease of the tumor cell population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gil Covarrubias
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | - Morgan E Lorkowski
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | - Haley M Sims
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | - Georgia Loutrianakis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | - Abdelrahman Rahmy
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | - Anthony Cha
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | - Eric Abenojar
- Department of Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | | | - Taylor J Moon
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
| | | | - Efstathios Karathanasis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio USA
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