N3-PEG-PLGA, Fluorescent-PLGAs from PolySciTech used in development of targeted nanoparticles as part of cancer immunotherapy

Immunotherapy against cancer is a promising field in which the human body’s own immune system is used to target the cancer directly. Recently, researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Levine Cancer Institute used N3-PEG-PLGA (AI091), PEG-PLGA (AK104), FITC-PLGA (AV016), and CY5-PLGA (AV032) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) to produce targeted nanoparticles to target immune cells and induce them to attack cancer cells. This research holds promise to provide for improved therapies against this fatal class of diseases. Read more: Au, Kin Man, Steven I. Park, and Andrew Z. Wang. "Trispecific natural killer cell nanoengagers for targeted chemoimmunotherapy." Science Advances 6, no. 27 (2020): eaba8564. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/27/eaba8564.abstract 

“Abstract: Activation of the innate immune system and natural killer (NK) cells has been a key effort in cancer immunotherapy research. Here, we report a nanoparticle-based trispecific NK cell engager (nano-TriNKE) platform that can target epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)–overexpressing tumors and promote the recruitment and activation of NK cells to eradicate these cancer cells. Moreover, the nanoengagers can deliver cytotoxic chemotherapeutics to further improve their therapeutic efficacy. We have demonstrated that effective NK cell activation can be achieved by the spatiotemporal coactivation of CD16 and 4-1BB stimulatory molecules on NK cells with nanoengagers, and the nanoengagers are more effective than free antibodies. We also show that biological targeting, either through radiotherapy or EGFR, is critical to the therapeutic effects of nanoengagers. Last, EGFR-targeted nanoengagers can augment both NK-activating agents and chemotherapy (epirubicin) as highly effective anticancer agents, providing robust chemoimmunotherapy.”