Immunotherapy is a newly developed method for cancer treatment, but still generates limited response in partial patients for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) because the immunity cycle is limited by the tumor microenvironment (TME). Herein, we introduce multifunctional gold nanocages (AuNCs)-based nanocarriers with Ansamitocin P3 (AP3) loaded and anti-PDL1 binding (AP3-AuNCs-anti-PDL1) which can combine photothermal therapy, chemotherapeutic agent-triggered DCs maturation, and checkpoint immunotherapy in one platform. The AP3-AuNCs-anti-PDL1 using Avidin-biotin to bind anti-PDL1 on the surface of AP3-AuNCs showed specifically cellular targeting compared to AuNCs, which can increase the immune responses. The AP3-AuNCs+NIR-10 min exhibited the highly activated DCs maturation with two-fold higher than control+NIR, which can be attributed to the significant release of AP3. The results illustrated the synergistic effect of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and controlled AP3 release under near infrared (NIR) in triggering effective DCs maturation. Among them, AP3 release played the more important role than the TAAs under PTT in promoting T-cell activation. These results illustrate the promising potential of AuNCs-based nanocarriers combined with AP3 and the checkpoint inhibitors to strengthen the positive loop of immunity cycle.
Keywords: DCs maturation; gold nanocages; immune checkpoint inhibitor; immunotherapy; photothermal therapy.