Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yachao Li, Lian Li, Jiawei Wang, D. Christopher Radford, Zhongwei Gu, Jindrich Kopecek, Jiyuan Yang
Summary: Dendronized polymer enhances the efficacy of oncolytic peptides for immunotherapy by inducing immunogenic cell death in cancer cells, converting immunosuppressive tumors to immunoresponsive ones, and increasing the number of cytotoxic T cells. Combination with immune checkpoint blockade further enhances efficacy and results in complete tumor eradication in mice, indicating a promising platform for oncolytic immunotherapy.
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Xiaoxian Huang, Lingfei Han, Ruyi Wang, Wanfang Zhu, Ning Zhang, Wei Qu, Wenyuan Liu, Fulei Liu, Feng Feng, Jingwei Xue
Summary: A dual-responsive prodrug micelle is designed to co-deliver a TGF-beta receptor inhibitor and a chemotherapy drug to remodel the tumor microenvironment and trigger immunogenic cell death, thereby inducing an antitumor immune response.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Yingying Li, Xiyou Du, Xinru Kong, Yuelin Fang, Zhijing He, Dongzhu Liu, Hang Wu, Jianbo Ji, Xiaoye Yang, Lei Ye, Guangxi Zhai
Summary: This study proposes a novel nanoplatform based on the autophagy cascade to overcome the obstacles in chemo-immunotherapy. The platform combines chemotherapy and starvation therapy to initiate pro-death autophagy and enhance antigen presentation, while also remodeling the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, the study discovers a new therapeutic direction for the respiration inhibitor 3-bromopyruvic acid (3BP) in cancer treatment. Overall, this study offers an opportunity to improve antitumor efficacy and boost immune responses.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2024)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Maricruz Rivera, Evan D. Bander, Babacar Cisse
Summary: Glioblastoma is the most aggressive primary tumor of the central nervous system with poor prognosis. Understanding the immune system's effects on glioma growth, invasion, survival, and angiogenesis is crucial for immunotherapy target development. Current clinical trials are investigating various approaches targeting the tumor microenvironment, as well as using vaccines, oncolytic viruses, antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor T cells for treating glioma cells.
WORLD NEUROSURGERY
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jianhua Liu, Zhongmin Li, Duoyi Zhao, Xiangru Feng, Chunxi Wang, Di Li, Jianxun Ding
Summary: Nanomedicine-based chemotherapeutic formulations can induce immunogenic cell death, which enhances the effectiveness of combination chemoimmunotherapy. The combination of these formulations with immunoactivating agents is a promising strategy for clinical cancer treatment.
MATERIALS & DESIGN
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fengqi Zhou, Jing Gao, Zhiai Xu, Tianliang Li, Ang Gao, Fang Sun, Fengyang Wang, Weiqi Wang, Yong Geng, Fan Zhang, Zhi Ping Xu, Haijun Yu
Summary: The study introduces a sequential prodrug nanovesicle designed to enhance drug delivery to tumor tissues and reduce immunological resistance of tumor cells. The nanovesicles show promising results in inhibiting tumor growth and suppressing metastasis in mouse models, providing a new approach for chemoimmunotherapy of cancers by overcoming immune evasion through the IFN-gamma-BRD4-PD-L1 axis.
Article
Oncology
Alessandro Salvalaggio, Erica Silvestri, Giulio Sansone, Laura Pinton, Sara Magri, Chiara Briani, Mariagiulia Anglani, Giuseppe Lombardi, Vittorina Zagonel, Alessandro Della Puppa, Susanna Mandruzzato, Maurizio Corbetta, Alessandra Bertoldo
Summary: This study combines MRI with flow cytometry analysis to measure the infiltration of different leukocyte populations in glioblastoma (GBM) tumor tissues. The MRI features are significantly correlated with different myeloid cell populations, providing a potential new tool for investigating the microenvironment of GBM.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sihui Yu, Hongyang Xiao, Li Ma, Jiawen Zhang, Jiarong Zhang
Summary: Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a revolutionary modality in cancer treatment that can kill primary tumors and prevent recurrence. It involves the production of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that can be recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), leading to infiltration of effector T cells and enhancement of anti-tumor immune responses. Various treatment methods, such as chemo- and radio-therapy, phototherapy, and nanotechnology, can induce ICD and convert dead cancer cells into vaccines. However, the effectiveness of ICD-induced therapies is limited by low accumulation in tumor sites and damage to normal tissues. Novel materials and strategies are being developed to overcome these challenges.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-REVIEWS ON CANCER
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Alessio Malfanti, Giuseppina Catania, Quentin Degros, Mingchao Wang, Mathilde Bausart, Veronique Preat
Summary: This study evaluated the feasibility of using hyaluronic acid (HA) for the local treatment of glioblastoma. The results demonstrate that HA-Hz-DOX showed the best performance in killing GBM cells both in vitro and in vivo, highlighting the potential of hyaluronic acid as a polymeric platform.
Review
Immunology
Songxin Zhu, Yuming Wang, Jun Tang, Min Cao
Summary: This review investigates the impact of radiotherapy on the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and the potential of remodeling TIME to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Understanding the causes of immune escape in tumor cells is crucial for the treatment of drug-resistant tumors.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Mingxia Jiang, Wenqiang Chen, Wenjing Yu, Zhiwei Xu, Xinyue Liu, Qingmiao Jia, Xiuwen Guan, Weifen Zhang
Summary: The sequentially pH-responsive DOX delivery nanosystem designed for simultaneous chemotherapy and tumor immunogenic cell death holds great potential for cancer chemoimmunotherapy, by utilizing immune checkpoint blockade to enhance antitumor activity.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Shiyang Wu, Dan Liu, Wenpan Li, Baohui Song, Chunlin Chen, Dawei Chen, Haiyang Hu
Summary: Tumor-associated fibroblasts play a crucial role in tumor progression and response to therapy in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. By delivering silybin using nano liposomes, the study successfully altered the tumor immune microenvironment and enhanced the anti-tumor immune response. Combining an immunogenic cell death inducer, liposomal doxorubicin, further improved treatment efficacy and prolonged survival duration.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jun Ma, Clark C. Chen, Ming Li
Summary: The interaction between glioblastoma and its microenvironment, particularly involving tumor-associated macrophages and microglia, plays a crucial role in tumor development and treatment outcomes. Understanding the changes and functions of these cells may lead to new therapeutic approaches and improved prognosis for patients.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Maria Gonzalez-Tablas Pimenta, Alvaro Otero, Daniel Angel Arandia Guzman, Daniel Pascual-Argente, Laura Ruiz Martin, Pablo Sousa-Casasnovas, Andoni Garcia-Martin, Juan Carlos Roa Montes de Oca, Javier Villasenor-Ledezma, Luis Torres Carretero, Maria Almeida, Javie Ortiz, Adelaida Nieto, Alberto Orfao, Maria Dolores Tabernero
Summary: This study investigated the cellular composition of 55 GBM samples and correlated the tumor immune profile with patient features and outcomes. The GBM samples primarily consisted of tumor and normal astrocytic cells, along with a significant but variable fraction of immune cells. Three distinct immune profiles were identified in the GBM samples, with untreated patients showing worse outcomes when immune infiltrates included a mixed population of myeloid and T-lymphoid cells.
Article
Immunology
Jie Ren, Jiaqi Yang, Song Na, Yiqian Wang, Linyun Zhang, Jinkui Wang, Jiwei Liu
Summary: Increasing evidence suggests that immunogenic cell death (ICD) plays critical functions in many tumors. This study investigates the therapeutic possibilities and mechanism of utilizing ICD in melanoma. Through pan-cancer analysis and clustering, melanoma samples were separated into two subtypes with different prognosis and immune microenvironment based on ICD expression traits. An ICD-dependent risk signature (ICDRS) was determined using LASSO-Cox regression analysis. ICDRS showed accurate prognosis evaluation and could be used for patient classification in melanoma treatment.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Francesca Mastrotto, Federica Bellato, Valentina Andretto, Alessio Malfanti, Mariangela Garofalo, Stefano Salmaso, Paolo Caliceti
JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
M. D. Al-Amin, Federica Bellato, Francesca Mastrotto, Mariangela Garofalo, Alessio Malfanti, Stefano Salmaso, Paolo Caliceti
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2020)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Anni Lepland, Eliana K. Asciutto, Alessio Malfanti, Lorena Simon-Gracia, Valeria Sidorenko, Maria J. Vicent, Tambet Teesalu, Pablo Scodeller
MOLECULAR PHARMACEUTICS
(2020)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Dorien Van Lysebetten, Alessio Malfanti, Kim Deswarte, Kaloian Koynov, Bianka Golba, Tingting Ye, Zifu Zhong, Sabah Kasmi, Alexander Lamoot, Yong Chen, Simon Van Herck, Bart N. Lambrecht, Niek N. Sanders, Stefan Lienenklaus, Sunil A. David, Maria J. Vicent, Stefaan De Koker, Bruno G. De Geest
Summary: The article discusses the development of a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platform utilizing poly(L-glutamic acid) (PGA) as a hydrophilic backbone for conjugation of peptide antigen and an imidazoquinoline (IMDQ) TLR7/8 agonist as a molecular adjuvant. Results show that LNP encapsulation facilitates uptake by innate immune cells in lymphoid tissue and enhances the induction of antigen-specific T cell responses after subcutaneous and intravenous administration in mouse models.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Paola Infante, Alessio Malfanti, Deborah Quaglio, Silvia Balducci, Sara De Martin, Francesca Bufalieri, Francesca Mastrotto, Irene Basili, Mariangela Garofalo, Ludovica Lospinoso Severini, Mattia Mori, Isabella Manni, Marta Moretti, Carmine Nicoletti, Giulia Piaggio, Paolo Caliceti, Bruno Botta, Francesca Ghirga, Stefano Salmaso, Lucia Di Marcotullio
Summary: The study investigated the efficacy of a drug carrier called mPEG(5kDa)-cholane in treating Hh-dependent medulloblastoma, showing high drug loading and stability, low cytotoxicity, and efficient delivery through the blood-brain barrier, providing implications for potential clinical use.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Mariangela Garofalo, Federica Bellato, Salvatore Magliocca, Alessio Malfanti, Lukasz Kuryk, Beate Rinner, Samuele Negro, Stefano Salmaso, Paolo Caliceti, Francesca Mastrotto
Summary: This study explored the use of polymer-coated oncolytic viruses for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, showing higher therapeutic efficacy in cells expressing high levels of ASGPR. The polymer coating altered the viral properties, enhancing infectivity and immunogenic cell death compared to naked viruses.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Chiara Bastiancich, Alessio Malfanti, Veronique Preat, Ruman Rahman
Summary: Local drug delivery is an effective way to treat GBM, allowing for immediate post-surgery treatment and bypassing the blood-brain barrier to reduce systemic side effects. Rational design of biomaterials and drug delivery systems is crucial for preventing tumor recurrence.
ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS
(2021)
Review
Oncology
Mathilde Bausart, Veronique Preat, Alessio Malfanti
Summary: The treatment of glioblastoma (GBM) has remained unchanged for over 20 years. Immunotherapy strategies have shown promise in revolutionizing cancer treatment, but the efficacy in GBM is hampered by immunosuppression, limited understanding of the neuroimmune system, and the blood-brain barrier. Recent studies have demonstrated that combination immunotherapy approaches have yielded encouraging results in both preclinical and clinical settings, highlighting the importance of targeting different arms of immunity. This review aims to summarize the preclinical evidence and discuss the outcomes of recent studies on combination immunotherapy for GBM management, as well as propose future strategies to improve efficacy and address the unmet medical needs of GBM.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Alessio Malfanti, Giuseppina Catania, Quentin Degros, Mingchao Wang, Mathilde Bausart, Veronique Preat
Summary: This study evaluated the feasibility of using hyaluronic acid (HA) for the local treatment of glioblastoma. The results demonstrate that HA-Hz-DOX showed the best performance in killing GBM cells both in vitro and in vivo, highlighting the potential of hyaluronic acid as a polymeric platform.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Mathilde Bausart, Kevin Vanvarenberg, Bernard Ucakar, Alessandra Lopes, Gaelle Vandermeulen, Alessio Malfanti, Veronique Preat
Summary: Combining DNA vaccines and dual immune checkpoint blockade can enhance the immune response in glioblastoma and improve the immune landscape in an unresectable GBM model. The combination therapy increases the ratio of effector T cells to Tregs in the spleens and the frequency of IFN-γ-secreting CD8 T cells in the brains.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Raffaella Daniele, Chiara Brazzale, Busra Arpac, Francesco Tognetti, Cristiano Pesce, Alessio Malfanti, Edward Sayers, Francesca Mastrotto, Arwyn T. Jones, Stefano Salmaso, Paolo Caliceti
Summary: The surface density of targeting agents affects the cell interaction, mechanism of cell entry, and intracellular fate of surface decorated nanoparticles. Increasing folic acid density on folate-targeted gold nanoparticles has been shown to enhance their internalization and trafficking to lysosomes in folate receptor overexpressing cells. Higher folic acid density induces more efficient particle internalization and predominantly internalizes the particles by a clathrin-independent process.
Article
Oncology
Anni Lepland, Alessio Malfanti, Uku Haljasorg, Eliana K. Asciutto, Monica Pickholz, Mauro Bringas, Snezana Dordevic, Liis Salumae, Paert Peterson, Tambet Teesalu, Maria J. Vicent, Pablo Scodeller
Summary: This study developed a novel TAM-depleting agent and demonstrated its efficacy in a triple-negative breast cancer mouse model. The agent specifically targets CD206+ TAMs and does not show acute liver or kidney toxicity in vivo. Treatment with this agent showed potential benefits in reducing tumor progression and modulating the immune system. This research represents a novel design of a peptide-targeted nanotherapeutic for TAM depletion.
CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Lin-Lin Luo, Jie Xu, Bing-Qiao Wang, Chen Chen, Xi Chen, Qiu-Mei Hu, Yu-Qiu Wang, Wan-Yun Zhang, Wan-Xiang Jiang, Xin-Ting Li, Hu Zhou, Xiao Xiao, Kai Zhao, Sen Lin
Summary: A novel AAV serotype, AAVYC5, introduced in this study, showed more efficient transduction into multiple retinal layers compared to AAV2, and enabled successful delivery of anti-angiogenic molecules in mice and non-human primates.