Search

Traditional anticancer treatments directly target tumor cells. In contrast, cancer immunotherapy fortifies host immunity. Nanoparticles that incorporate both immunomodulatory and chemotherapeutic agents regulate the tumor microenvironment by activating immune cells and enhancing antitumor immunity. Nanoparticle-based cancer immunotherapy has received considerable attention and has been extensively studied in recent years. In this study, we developed a targeted drug delivery system to enhance immunotherapeutic efficacy and overcome drug resistance by inducing tumor apoptosis and immunogenic cell death (ICD), and activating immune cells. Periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (PMOs) bore tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) on their surfaces, and their inner cores were loaded with doxorubicin (DOX). TRAIL enhanced the nanoparticle-targeting capacity and worked synergistically with DOX against breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we revealed for the first time the ability of PMOs to activate dendritic cells (DCs) and elevate ICD levels of DOX in vitro, and TRAIL further enhances the immunomodulatory function of PMOs. Systemic exposure to DOX@PMO-hT induced an immune response, activated DCs and CD4

Although many vaccines have been designed to induce effective mucosal immune responses against HIV-1, designing an effective HIV-1 vaccine remains a challenge. Bacterium-like particles (BLPs) are a new type of vector used to induce mucosal immune responses, and have already been used for some vaccines against respiratory tract viruses. In this study, we designed a mucosal vaccine against HIV-1 based on BLPs. The vaccine was used to immunize both mice and guinea pigs via intramuscular (i.m.) injection or intranasal (i.n.) drip. We found that gp120 trimers bound to BLPs delivered via i.n. drip successfully induced Env-specific secretory IgA (sIgA) at mucosal sites in mice. Furthermore, nasal washes from guinea pigs immunized via i.n. drip showed neutralizing activity against HIV-1 tier 1 pseudoviruses. Thus, gp120 trimers bound to BLPs may be an effective vaccine strategy against HIV-1.