In vivo gold nanoparticle delivery of peptide vaccine induces anti-tumor immune response in prophylactic and therapeutic tumor models

Joao Paulo Mattos Almeida, Adam Yuh Lin, Elizabeth Raquel Figueroa, Aaron Edward Foster, Rebekah Anna Drezek*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

164 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are promising vehicles for cancer immunotherapy, with demonstrated efficacy in immune delivery and innate cell stimulation. Nevertheless, their potential has yet to be assessed in the in vivo application of peptide cancer vaccines. In this study, it is hypothesized that the immune distribution and adjuvant qualities of AuNPs could be leveraged to facilitate delivery of the ovalbumin (OVA) peptide antigen and the CpG adjuvant and enhance their therapeutic effect in a B16-OVA tumor model. AuNP delivery of OVA (AuNP-OVA) and of CpG (AuNP-CpG) enhanced the efficacy of both agents and induced strong antigen-specific responses. In addition, it is found that AuNP-OVA delivery alone, without CpG, is sufficient to promote significant antigen-specific responses, leading to subsequent anti-tumor activity and prolonged survival in both prophylactic and therapeutic in vivo tumor models. This enhanced therapeutic efficacy is likely due to the adjuvant effect of peptide coated AuNPs, as they induce inflammatory cytokine release when cultured with bone marrow dendritic cells. Overall, AuNP-mediated OVA peptide delivery can produce significant therapeutic benefits without the need of adjuvant, indicating that AuNPs are effective peptide vaccine carriers with the potential to permit the use of lower and safer adjuvant doses during vaccination.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1453-1459
Number of pages7
JournalSmall
Volume11
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 25 2015

Funding

A. E. Foster and R. A. Drezek contributed equally to this work. This project was supported by the National Institutes of Health R01CA172836. J Almeida is also funded by the Keck Center of the Gulf Coast Consortia, on the Nanobiology Interdisciplinary Graduate Training Program, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) T32EB009379, as well as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship #0940902 and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med into Grad fellowship.

Keywords

  • biodistribution
  • cancer
  • gold nanoparticles
  • immune system
  • immunotherapy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Biotechnology
  • Biomaterials

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