James Moon, PhD,
John Gideon Searle Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering,
University of Michigan

Despite the clinical success of cancer immunotherapy, their dose-limiting toxicities and low patient response rates remain as the major challenges to address. Here, present new biomaterial-based strategies for amplifying anti-tumor immune responses and sensitizing tumors to immunotherapies in a safe and effective manner. Briefly, we show that lipid-based nanodiscs can efficiently co-deliver antigen and immunostimulatory molecules to draining lymph nodes and elicit potent CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses, leading to substantially enhanced anti-tumor efficacy in multiple murine tumor models, including colon carcinoma, melanoma, and HPV-induced tumors. In a second research thrust, we have shown that this nano-platform can deliver chemotherapeutic agents in a synergistic manner with immune checkpoint blockers. Our nanotechnology offers a powerful and convenient platform for improving cancer immunotherapy.