Mass-produced gram-negative bacterial outer membrane vesicles activate cancer antigen-specific stem-like CD8(+) T cells which enables an effective combination immunotherapy with anti-PD-1

Despite the capability of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria to induce potent anti-tumour responses, large-scale production of bacterial EVs remains as a hurdle for their development as novel cancer immunotherapeutic agents. Here, we developed manufacturing processes for mass production of Escherichia coli EVs, namely, outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). By combining metal precipitation and size-exclusion chromatography, we isolated 357 mg in total protein amount of E. coli OMVs, which was equivalent to 3.93 x 10(15) particles (1.10 x 10(10) particles/& mu;g in total protein amounts of OMVs) from 160 L of the conditioned medium. We show that these mass-produced E. coli OMVs led to complete remission of two mouse syngeneic tumour models. Further analysis of tumour microenvironment in neoantigen-expressing tumour models revealed that E. coli OMV treatment causes increased infiltration and activation of CD8(+) T cells, especially those of cancer antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells with high expression of TCF-1 and PD-1. Furthermore, E. coli OMVs showed synergistic anti-tumour activity with anti-PD-1 antibody immunotherapy, inducing substantial tumour growth inhibition and infiltration of activated cancer antigen-specific stem-like CD8(+) T cells into the tumour microenvironment. These data highlight the potent anti-tumour activities of mass-produced E. coli OMVs as a novel candidate for developing next-generation cancer immunotherapeutic agents.

Automated summary

Despite the challenges in large-scale production, Escherichia coli outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) have potent anti-tumour activities and show synergy with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Mass-produced E. coli OMVs led to complete remission in mouse tumour models and increased infiltration and activation of cancer antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells in the tumour microenvironment. These findings highlight the potential of mass-produced E. coli OMVs as next-generation cancer immunotherapeutic agents.