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Title: 6-Thioguanine-loaded polymeric micelles deplete myeloid-derived suppressor cells and enhance the efficacy of T cell immunotherapy in tumor-bearing mice

Journal Article · · Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzlerland). Inst. of Bioengineering; Swiss Inst. for Experimental Cancer Research , Lausanne (Switzerland)
  2. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzlerland). Inst. of Bioengineering
  3. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzlerland). Inst. of Bioengineering; Swiss Inst. for Experimental Cancer Research , Lausanne (Switzerland); Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzlerland). Inst. for Chemical Sciences and Engineering; Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
  4. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzlerland). Inst. of Bioengineering; Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzlerland). Inst. for Chemical Sciences and Engineering; Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of immature myeloid cells that suppress effector T cell responses and can reduce the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies. We previously showed that ultra-small polymer nanoparticles efficiently drain to the lymphatics after intradermal injection and target antigen-presenting cells, including Ly6chi Ly6g- monocytic MDSCs (Mo-MDSCs), in skin- draining lymph nodes (LNs) and spleen. Here, we developed ultra-small polymer micelles loaded with 6-thioguanine (MC-TG), a cytotoxic drug used in the treatment of myelogenous leukemia, with the aim of killing Mo-MDSCs in tumor-bearing mice and thus enhancing T cell-mediated anti-tumor responses. We found that 2 days post-injection in tumor-bearing mice (B16-F10 melanoma or E.G7-OVA thymoma), MC-TG depleted Mo-MDSCs in the spleen, Ly6clo Ly6g+ granulocytic MDSCs (G-MDSCs) in the draining LNs, and Gr1int Mo-MDSCs in the tumor. In both tumor models, MC-TG decreased the numbers of circulating Mo- and G-MDSCs, as well as of Ly6chi macrophages, for up to 7 days following a single administration. MDSC depletion was dose dependent and more effective with MC-TG than with equal doses of free TG. Finally, we tested whether this MDSCdepleting strategy might enhance cancer immunotherapies in the B16-F10 melanoma model. We found that MC-TG significantly improved the efficacy of adoptively transferred, OVA-specific CD8+ T cells in melanoma cells expressing OVA. As a result, these findings highlight the capacity of MC-TG in depleting MDSCs in the tumor microenvironment and show promise in promoting anti-tumor immunity when used in combination with T cell immunotherapies.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland)
Sponsoring Organization:
European Research Commission (ERC); Swiss Cancer League; Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences and Engineering Division
Grant/Contract Number:
02114-08-2007; 02696-08-2010; 206653; 31-13576; AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1261131
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1332936
Journal Information:
Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, Vol. 64, Issue 8; ISSN 0340-7004
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 53 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

Recent Advances in Polymeric Nanomedicines for Cancer Immunotherapy journal January 2019
Nanoengineered Immune Niches for Reprogramming the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment and Enhancing Cancer Immunotherapy journal February 2019
Nanomedicine approaches to improve cancer immunotherapy: Nanotechnology in cancer immunotherapy journal March 2017
Biomaterial-assisted targeted modulation of immune cells in cancer treatment journal August 2018
Enhancing cancer immunotherapy with nanomedicine journal January 2020
Engineering opportunities in cancer immunotherapy journal November 2015
Modulating T-cell-based cancer immunotherapy via particulate systems journal June 2018
Current applications and future prospects of nanotechnology in cancer immunotherapy journal August 2019
The Role of Tumor-Associated Myeloid Cells in Modulating Cancer Therapy journal June 2020

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