Bioactive Materials (May 2023)

Enhancement of T cell infiltration via tumor-targeted Th9 cell delivery improves the efficacy of antitumor immunotherapy of solid tumors

  • Tao Chen,
  • Yucheng Xue,
  • Shengdong Wang,
  • Jinwei Lu,
  • Hao Zhou,
  • Wenkan Zhang,
  • Zhiyi Zhou,
  • Binghao Li,
  • Yong Li,
  • Zenan Wang,
  • Changwei Li,
  • Yinwang Eloy,
  • Hangxiang Sun,
  • Yihang Shen,
  • Mohamed Diaty Diarra,
  • Chang Ge,
  • Xupeng Chai,
  • Haochen Mou,
  • Peng Lin,
  • Xiaohua Yu,
  • Zhaoming Ye

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23
pp. 508 – 523

Abstract

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Insufficient infiltration of T cells severely compromises the antitumor efficacy of adoptive cell therapy (ACT) against solid tumors. Here, we present a facile immune cell surface engineering strategy aiming to substantially enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of Th9-mediated ACT by rapidly identifying tumor-specific binding ligands and improving the infiltration of infused cells into solid tumors. Non-genetic decoration of Th9 cells with tumor-targeting peptide screened from phage display not only allowed precise targeted ACT against highly heterogeneous solid tumors but also substantially enhanced infiltration of CD8+ T cells, which led to improved antitumor outcomes. Mechanistically, infusion of Th9 cells modified with tumor-specific binding ligands facilitated the enhanced distribution of tumor-killing cells and remodeled the immunosuppressive microenvironment of solid tumors via IL-9 mediated immunomodulation. Overall, we presented a simple, cost-effective, and cell-friendly strategy to enhance the efficacy of ACT against solid tumors with the potential to complement the current ACT.

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