Student University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, Illinois
Insufficient antigen presentation and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) are major obstacles to effective cancer immunotherapy. We developed a novel dendritic cell-based therapeutic technology for effective tumor microenvironment modulation and in situ immunization, named Antigen-Capturing nanoparticle Transformed Dendritic Cell therapy (ACT-DC), which integrates antigen capturing nanoparticles (AC-NPs) and migratory type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s). AC-NPs are engineered to capture antigens from the tumor and facilitate their delivery to adoptive migratory cDC1s, enhancing antigen presentation to the immune cells in lymph nodes and reshaping the TME. Our findings suggest that ACT-DC elicits a potent systemic antitumor response with memory effects and leads to a more immunologically hot state in the TME. Combining ACT-DC with immune checkpoint inhibitors enhances immune responses leading to 75-80% tumor-free survival in MC38 and B16F10 models. Overall, ACT-DC enables efficient antigen presentation and TME immunomodulation with potential in creating the next-generation of dendritic cell-based cancer immunotherapies.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to describe the key components of a novel strategy for delivering tumor antigen to the lymph nodes and how it differs from existing dendric cell therapies.
Participants will understand the role of ACT-DC in enhancing antigen presentation and promoting a robust immune response against cancer.
Participants will evaluate the impact of ACT-DC therapy on tumor elimination and immune memory in preclinical models, assessing its potential as an innovative approach for in situ cancer immunization.
