Cancer Nanobombs Delivering Artoxplatin with a Polyigniter Bearing Hydrophobic Ferrocene Units Upregulate PD-L1 Expression and Stimulate Stronger Anticancer Immunity

Poor immunogenicity seriously hampers the broader implementation of antitumor immunotherapy. Enhanced immunogenicity capable of achieving greater antitumor immunity is urgently required. Here, a novel polymer that contains hydrophobic ferrocene (Fc) units and thioketal bonds in the main chain, which further delivered a prodrug of oxaliplatin and artesunate, i.e., Artoxplatin, to cancer cells is described. This polymer with Fc units in the nanoparticle can work as a polyigniter to spark the peroxide bonds in Artoxplatin and generate abundant reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill cancers as nanobomb(ig) for cancer therapy. Moreover, ROS can trigger the breakdown of thioketal bonds in the polymer, resulting in the biodegradation of the polymer. Importantly, nanobomb(ig) can facilitate the maturation of dendritic cells and promote the activation of antitumor immunity, through the enhanced immunogenic cell death effect by ROS generated in situ. Furthermore, metabolomics analysis reveals a decrease in glutamine in nanobomb(ig)-treated cancer cells, resulting in the upregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Consequently, it is further demonstrated enhanced tumor inhibitory effects when using nanobomb(ig) combined with anti-PD-L1 therapy. Overall, the nanosystem offers a rational design of an efficient chemo-immunotherapy regimen to promote antitumor immunity by improving tumor immunogenicity, addressing the key challenges cancer immunotherapy faced.

Automated summary

This study describes a novel polymer that releases a drug to kill cancer cells and activate immune cells, thus enhancing antitumor immunity. Additionally, the study found that the polymer can decrease glutamine levels, resulting in upregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and further improving the efficacy when combined with anti-PD-L1 therapy.