Designer vaccine nanodiscs for personalized cancer immunotherapy

Nat Mater. 2017 Apr;16(4):489-496. doi: 10.1038/nmat4822. Epub 2016 Dec 26.

Abstract

Despite the tremendous potential of peptide-based cancer vaccines, their efficacy has been limited in humans. Recent innovations in tumour exome sequencing have signalled the new era of personalized immunotherapy with patient-specific neoantigens, but a general methodology for stimulating strong CD8α+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses remains lacking. Here we demonstrate that high-density lipoprotein-mimicking nanodiscs coupled with antigen (Ag) peptides and adjuvants can markedly improve Ag/adjuvant co-delivery to lymphoid organs and sustain Ag presentation on dendritic cells. Strikingly, nanodiscs elicited up to 47-fold greater frequencies of neoantigen-specific CTLs than soluble vaccines and even 31-fold greater than perhaps the strongest adjuvant in clinical trials (that is, CpG in Montanide). Moreover, multi-epitope vaccination generated broad-spectrum T-cell responses that potently inhibited tumour growth. Nanodiscs eliminated established MC-38 and B16F10 tumours when combined with anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 therapy. These findings represent a new powerful approach for cancer immunotherapy and suggest a general strategy for personalized nanomedicine.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, Neoplasm* / chemistry
  • Antigens, Neoplasm* / immunology
  • Antigens, Neoplasm* / pharmacology
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / pathology
  • Cancer Vaccines* / chemistry
  • Cancer Vaccines* / immunology
  • Cancer Vaccines* / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Epitopes* / chemistry
  • Epitopes* / immunology
  • Epitopes* / pharmacology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Cellular / drug effects
  • Mice
  • Nanostructures* / chemistry
  • Nanostructures* / therapeutic use
  • Neoplasms, Experimental* / immunology
  • Neoplasms, Experimental* / pathology
  • Neoplasms, Experimental* / therapy
  • Vaccination*

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Cancer Vaccines
  • Epitopes