Mannosylated-serum albumin nanoparticle imaging to monitor tumor-associated macrophages under anti-PD1 treatment

• Published in: Journal of nanobiotechnology 2023-01, Vol.21 (1), p.31-11, Article 31
• Main Authors: Gu, Gyo Jeong, Chung, Hyewon, Park, Ji Yong, Yoo, Ranji, Im, Hyung-Jun, Choi, Hongyoon, Lee, Yun-Sang, Seok, Seung Hyeok
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Albumin; Animal models; Animals; Anti-PD1; Antibodies; Apoptosis; Bone marrow; Cell death; Cytokines; Drug therapy; Drug utilization; Emission analysis; Enrichment; Flow cytometry; Gallium isotopes; Gallium Radioisotopes; Health aspects; Imaging; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Immune system; Inhibitors; Lymphocytes; Macrophages; Mannose; Mannose receptors; Mannosylated-serum albumin; Methods; Mice; Monoclonal antibodies; Monosaccharides; Nanoparticles; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Patient outcomes; PD-1 protein; PET imaging; Positron emission; Positron emission tomography; Prognosis; Pulmonary arteries; Radioisotopes; Serum Albumin; Sugars; Tumor Microenvironment; Tumor-associated macrophage; Tumor-Associated Macrophages - pathology; Tumors
• ISSN: 1477-3155; 1477-3155
• DOI: 10.1186/s12951-023-01791-9

Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) block tumor growth by reinvigorating the immune system; however, determining their efficacy only by the changes in tumor size may prove inaccurate. As the immune cells including macrophages in the tumor microenvironment (TME) are associated with the response to anti-PD1 therapy, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) imaging using nanoparticles can noninvasively provide the immune enrichment status of TME. Herein, the mannosylated-serum albumin (MSA) nanoparticle was labeled with radioactive isotope Ga to target the mannose receptors on macrophages for noninvasive monitoring of the TME according to anti-PD1 therapy. B16F10-Luc and MC38-Luc tumor-bearing mice were treated with anti-PD1, and the response to anti-PD1 was determined by the tumor volume. According to the flow cytometry, the responders to anti-PD1 showed an increased proportion of TAMs, as well as lymphocytes, and the most enriched immune cell population in the TME was also TAMs. For noninvasive imaging of TAMs as a surrogate of immune cell augmentation in the TME via anti-PD1, we acquired [ Ga] Ga-MSA positron emission tomography. According to the imaging study, an increased number of TAMs in responders at the early phase of anti-PD1 treatment was observed in both B16F10-Luc and MC38-Luc tumor-bearing mice models. As representative immune cells in the TME, non-invasive imaging of TAMs using MSA nanoparticles can reflect the immune cell enrichment status in the TME closely associated with the response to anti-PD1. As non-invasive imaging using MSA nanoparticles, this approach shows a potential to monitor and evaluate anti-tumor response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.