An implantable blood clot–based immune niche for enhanced cancer vaccination

Journal:
Science Advances
Published:
DOI:
10.1126/sciadv.abb4639
Affiliations:
4
Authors:
10
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Research Highlight

Cancer vaccine inspired by blood clots

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A new type of cancer vaccine designed to mimic a blood clot could help treat a wide range of tumours.

A team led by Soochow University researchers created the vaccine by vacuum drying a mixture of mouse blood and immune-modulating agents. The resulting blood clots created a type of scaffold, into which the researchers loaded bits of tumour protein, immune signalling molecules and vaccine adjuvants.

When implanted in mice with tumours, the designer clots attracted large numbers of immune cells. Inside the resulting hub of immune activity, cells learned to recognize and attack cancer, leading to robust anti-tumour responses, especially when combined with other immune-directed therapies, in various mouse models.

The system is flexible and could thus be tailored to the mutational profiles of individual tumours to create potent and personalized cancer immunotherapies for patients.

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References

  1. Science Advances 6, eabb4639 (2020). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abb4639
Institutions Authors Share
Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, China
7.500000
 0.75
Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan
1.000000
 0.10
Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA)
1.000000
 0.10
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, China
0.500000
 0.05