Dinitrophenol-Hyaluronan Conjugates as Multivalent Antibody-Recruiting Glycopolymers for Targeted Cancer Immunotherapy

Multivalent antibody-recruiting glycopolymers (MARGs) composed of hyaluronic acid (HA) grafted with multiple copies of dinitrophenol (DNP) were developed for targeted cancer immunotherapy. Structure-activity studies demonstrated that the MARGs were able to specifically recognize CD44-positive cancer cells and displayed remarkable antibody-recruiting capacities and tumor cell killing activities dependent on the introduced multivalent effect and the length of PEG linker. One of the MARGs, HA-[PEG(3)-DNP](8), showed the best capacity for clustering anti-DNP antibodies onto CD44-positive cancer cells and displayed potent in vitro anti-cancer activity by triggering complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Moreover, we found that HA-[PEG(3)-DNP](8) significantly inhibited the xenograft tumor growth of Babl/c nude mice bearing triple negative breast cancer cells, while it did not cause detectable histological cytotoxicity. Given the easy access of this type of natural glycopolymer and the practical synthesis approach, these MARGs provide promising immunotherapeutics for cancer immunotherapy.

Automated summary

Multivalent antibody-recruiting glycopolymers (MARGs) made of hyaluronic acid (HA) grafted with multiple dinitrophenol (DNP) groups have shown promising potential for targeted cancer immunotherapy. These MARGs can specifically recognize CD44-positive cancer cells and exhibit strong antibody-recruiting and tumor cell killing activities. One specific MARG, HA-[PEG(3)-DNP](8), demonstrated the best capacity for clustering antibodies and inhibiting xenograft tumor growth in animal models without causing detectable histological cytotoxicity. Given their easy access and practical synthesis approach, MARGs offer a promising avenue for cancer immunotherapy.