Nanovaccine against cancer
Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, working under the guidance of Professor Gao Jinming (Jinming Gao), have created the first of its kind nanovaccine designed for immunotherapy of various types of cancer.
The nanovaccine consists of tumor antigens – tumor proteins recognized by the immune system – enclosed inside synthetic polymer nanoparticles. Such a vaccine delivers tiny particles into the body that stimulate the development of a tumor-specific immune response. The purpose of this intervention is to increase the effectiveness of the body's fight against the tumor.
The laser beam is scattered on nanoparticles in a nanovaccine solution.
Usually, in order for the vaccine to have its effect, antigen-presenting immune cells must absorb tumor antigens and transfer them to lymphoid organs, where specific activation of T-lymphocytes occurs. In contrast to this pathway, nanoparticles with antigens to tumor cells can travel directly to the lymph nodes to activate a tumor-specific immune response. This is due to the activation of the STING adapter protein, which stimulates the antitumor immune response.
The authors tested the new approach on mouse models of various types of cancer: melanoma, rectal cancer, papillomavirus-associated tumors of the cervix, head and neck and anogenital regions. In most cases, the nanovaccine slowed down tumor growth and increased the life expectancy of animals.
Other types of vaccines have already been used in antitumor immunotherapy. However, they tend to have a complex composition, which makes their production very expensive and in some cases can cause undesirable side effects mediated by the immune system.
With the advent of new nanotechnological tools and the improvement of methods of using polymers for drug delivery, over the past 10 years, the direction of developing vaccines based on nanoparticles has been actively developing and attracted keen interest from both the scientific community and industry.
Currently, researchers are collaborating with clinicians about the possibilities of conducting clinical trials of STING-activating nanovaccines directed against various types of cancer. Combining nanovaccines with radiotherapy or other immunotherapy strategies such as "checkpoint inhibition" can further enhance their effectiveness.
Article by Min Luo et al. A STING-activating nanovaccine for cancer immunotherapy is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on materials from UT Southwestern Medical Center: Nanoparticle vaccine shows potential as immunotherapy to fight multiple cancer types.
27.04.2017