Multifunctional oncolytic nanoparticles deliver self-replicating IL-12 RNA to eliminate established tumors and prime systemic immunity

Y Li, Z Su, W Zhao, X Zhang, N Momin, C Zhang… - Nature cancer, 2020 - nature.com
Nature cancer, 2020nature.com
Therapies that synergistically stimulate immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD), inflammation
and immune priming are of great interest for cancer immunotherapy. However, even multi-
agent therapies often fail to trigger all of the steps necessary for self-sustaining antitumor
immunity. Here we describe self-replicating RNAs encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNP),
which combine three key elements:(1) an LNP composition that potently promotes ICD,(2)
RNA that stimulates danger sensors in transfected cells and (3) RNA-encoded interleukin …
Abstract
Therapies that synergistically stimulate immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD), inflammation and immune priming are of great interest for cancer immunotherapy. However, even multi-agent therapies often fail to trigger all of the steps necessary for self-sustaining antitumor immunity. Here we describe self-replicating RNAs encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNP), which combine three key elements: (1) an LNP composition that potently promotes ICD, (2) RNA that stimulates danger sensors in transfected cells and (3) RNA-encoded interleukin (IL)-12 for modulation of immune cells. Intratumoral administration of LNP-replicons led to high-level expression of IL-12, stimulation of a type I interferon response and cancer cell ICD, resulting in a highly inflamed tumor microenvironment and priming of systemic antitumor immunity. In several mouse models of cancer, a single intratumoral injection of LNP-replicons eradicated large established tumors, induced protective immune memory and enabled regression of distal uninjected tumors. LNP-replicons are thus a promising multifunctional single-agent immunotherapeutic.
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