Search

Malignant melanoma, one of the most aggressive types of cancer easily metastasizes, making it extremely difficult to treat and unresponsive to current therapies. Recent breakthroughs in nanomaterials-based cancer immunotherapy have provided potential specific strategy for tumor and metastasis inhibition. With the development of nanotechnology, inorganic nanomaterials have been increasingly studied for their potential cancer therapeutic and molecular imaging functions. However, only iron-based nanomaterials have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in inorganic nanomedicines. For promising clinical application, a new type of nanocomposite is engineered by combining ultra-small iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 NPs) and ovalbumin (OVA), denoted as Fe 3 O 4 -OVA nanocomposites in this study. Interestingly, this is the first time that Fe 3 O 4 NPs are found as nano-immunopotentiators helping nanocomposites efficiently stimulate dendritic cell-based immunotherapy and potentially-activate macrophages. These nanocomposites efficiently stimulate the maturation level of bone marrow derived dendritic cell (BMDCs) and corresponding activation of T cells and also potentially-activate macrophages. With the help of the Fe 3 O 4 nano-immunopotentiators (Fe 3 O 4 NPs), this therapeutic and prophylactic Fe 3 O 4 -OVA vaccine can not only efficiently inhibit the subcutaneous and metastatic B16-OVA tumor growth but also successfully prevent the formation of subcutaneous and metastatic tumor, providing a promising strategy for expanding the clinical use of Fe-based nanomaterials., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Photo‐responsive combinational therapeutics attained significant attention in cancer theranostic owing to the versatile features of nanomaterials. The simplest nano‐design with unique properties to carry out multifunctionalties is a challenging assignment. Herein, a facile solvothermal method is employed to fabricate homogeneous MnO2 sea urchin‐shaped nanoparticles (MnO2‐OVA NPs) with a high loading capacity (86.15%) of ovalbumin (OVA) antigen. The prepared MnO2‐OVA NPs demonstrated excellent biocompatibility against different cell lines and significant cellular uptake, resulting in mature dendritic cells to enhance anti‐tumor immunity. The synthesized sea urchin‐shaped MnO2‐OVA NPs further exhibited self‐generated catalytic properties that efficiently relieve tumor hypoxia and improve cancer therapies. More excitingly, MnO2‐OVA NPs endorsed reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response of minute UV irradiation (mW) for photodynamic therapy. Further, the prepared photo‐responsive nanoparticles showed promising T1‐MR imaging and relaxivity properties for diagnosis and real‐time drug delivery monitoring. These synergetic therapeutic strategies produced by MnO2‐OVA NPs showed excellency as a potential theranostic agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]