A heterogenic membrane-based biomimetic hybrid nanoplatform for combining radiotherapy and immunotherapy against breast cancer

Radiotherapy is adopted to obliterate multiple malignant tumors clinically, which might also induce antitumor immune response. However, traditional radiotherapy is not enough to ablate tumors and activate long-term immunological response. Here, we developed a hybrid nanoplatform (MGTe) composed of GTe (glutathione (GSH) decorated Te nanoparticles) and fusing tumor cell membranes (TM) and bacterial outer membranes (BM). In this nanoplatform, GTe was designed for radiotherapy sensitization, concurrently the fusion of TM and BM was expected for amplifying antitumor immune. With a high-Z element, MGTe could enhance radiosensitivity by reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cancer cell immunogenic death (ICD) under X-ray irradiation, which would also trigger antitumor immune. At meanwhile, TM and BM would further enlarge the immuno-logical effects through antigen presenting cells (APCs) maturation and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) stimu-lation. In this synergistic strategy, the combination of MGTe and X-ray showed significant tumor inhibition by radiation-driven immunotherapy, which will find great potential as an attractive clinical alternative to fight against tumor with reduced side effects.

Automated summary

This study developed a hybrid nanoplatform combining radiosensitization and enhanced antitumor immune response. The platform utilized a high-Z element to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce immunogenic death in cancer cells under X-ray irradiation. Furthermore, the fusion of tumor cell and bacterial membranes amplified the immune response. The synergistic therapy achieved significant tumor inhibition and has potential as a clinical alternative treatment.