Nano-Corona Anticancer Strategy

Nano-corona is induced by the interaction of nanoparticles with plasma proteins. Although the immune toxicity aroused by nano-corona has been intensively studied for the past decade, there were no reports on immunotherapy using nano-corona. It is widely believed that nano-corona invoke intrinsic and adaptive immune responses by conformation changes in the protein structures. In this study, the anti-cancer efficacy of nano-corona was analyzed in the tumor microenvironment in which the immune response was suppressed by cancer cells. Surprisingly, nano-corona significantly induced M1 differentiation from the M2 phenotype in the tumor microenvironment with a stimulated innate immune response. In addition, to examine the removal of the tumor tissue, combination therapies using nano-corona, photothermal therapy, and anti-cancer immune-therapy was conducted. Combinational therapies inhibited the growth of tumor tissues. Activation of NK cells and cytotoxic T cells that directly destroyed tumor cells and importantly, T_reg cells are reduced at the tumor microenvironment. Obtaimed results represent that the anti-tumor immune response enhanced by nanocorona. Importantly, the study suggested evidence that controlling of immune responses using nano-corona significantly influences the efficacy of anti-cancer therapy by switching immune regulation at the tumor environment.