Scientists in the US have taken advantage of a biologically inspired sponge-like gel called a ‘cryogel’ to produce a novel type of cancer vaccine. Developed by a team led by David Mooney at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, the injectable vaccine works by delivering patient-specific tumor cells together with immune-stimulating biomolecules to enhance the body's attack against cancer. The approach, a so-called ‘injectable cryogel whole-cell cancer vaccine’, is reported in Nature Communications.
This latest approach differs from other cancer cell transplantation therapies, which harvest tumor cells and then genetically engineer them to trigger immune responses once they are transplanted back into the patient's body. Instead, the new cryogel vaccine's properties are used to evoke the immune response in a far simpler and more economical way.
"This new injectable form of this biomaterials-based cancer vaccine will help to expand the cancer immunotherapy arsenal, and it's a great example of how engineering and materials science can be used to mimic the body's own natural responses in a truly powerful way."Don Ingber, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
Cryogels are a type of hydrogel made up of cross-linked hydrophilic polymer chains that can hold up to 99% water. They are created by freezing a solution of the polymer that is in the process of gelling. When thawed back again to room temperature, the substance turns into a highly interconnected pore-containing hydrogel, similar in composition to soft bodily tissues in terms of its water content, structure and mechanics. By adjusting the shape, physical properties and chemical composition, Mooney's team generated sponge-like, porous cryogels that can be infused with living cells, biological molecules or drugs for a variety of potential therapeutic applications including cancer immunotherapy.
"Instead of genetically engineering the cancer cells to influence the behavior of immune cells, we use immune-stimulating chemicals or biological molecules inserted alongside harvested cancer cells in the porous, sponge-like spaces of the cryogel vaccine," said Mooney.
The cryogels can be delivered in a minimally invasive manner due to their extreme flexibility and resilience, allowing them to be compressed to a fraction of their size and injected underneath the skin with a surgical needle. Once injected, they quickly rebound to their original dimensions.
"After injection into the body, the cryogels can release their immune-enhancing factors in a highly controlled fashion to recruit specialized immune cells which then make contact and read unique signatures off the patient's tumor cells, also contained in the cryogels,” explained Sidi Bencherif, the study's co-first author and a research associate in Mooney's research group. “This has two consequences: immune cells become primed to mount a robust and destructive response against patient-specific tumor tissue and the immune tolerance developing within the tumor microenvironment is broken."
In experiments on melanoma tumors in animal models, the scientists found that utilizing the cryogel to deliver whole cells and drugs triggers a dramatic immune response that can shrink tumors and even prophylactically protect animals from tumor growth. Following the pre-clinical success of the new cancer cell vaccination technology, Mooney and his team are now looking to explore how this cryogel-based method could be more broadly useful for treating a number of different cancer types.
"This promising new approach is a great example of the power of collaboration across disciplines, bringing together expertise from the Wyss Institute and Dana-Farber spanning bioengineering, cancer biology and immunology," said Mooney.
"This new injectable form of this biomaterials-based cancer vaccine will help to expand the cancer immunotherapy arsenal, and it's a great example of how engineering and materials science can be used to mimic the body's own natural responses in a truly powerful way," said Don Ingber, the Wyss Institute's founding director.
This story is adapted from material from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier. Link to original source.