Application of radially grown ZnO nanowires on poly--lactide microfibers complexed with a tumor antigen for cancer immunotherapy

• Published in: Nanoscale 2019-03, Vol.11 (1), p.4591-46
• Main Authors: Sharma, Prashant, Shin, Ji Beom, Park, Bum Chul, Lee, Jae-Won, Byun, Sang Won, Jang, Na-Yoon, Kim, Yu Jin, Kim, Yuri, Kim, Young Keun, Cho, Nam-Hyuk
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/c8nr08704k

Zinc oxide (ZnO)-based nanocomposites have shown promising potential for various biomedical applications, including vaccine development, owing to their multifunctionality and biocompatibility. Here, we synthesized radially grown ZnO nanowires (NWs) on poly- l -lactic acid (PLLA) microfibers with unique 3-dimensional structure and applied them as therapeutic cancer vaccines. This inorganic-organic hybrid nanocomposite has mild cellular toxicity but efficiently delivers a tumor antigen into dendritic cells, cellular bridges between innate and adaptive immunity, to stimulate them to express inflammatory cytokines and activation surface markers. We also demonstrated that the hybrid nanocomposites successfully induce tumor antigen-specific cellular immunity and significantly inhibit tumor growth in vivo . ZnO NWs on PLLA fibers systemically reduced immune suppressive T Reg cells and enhanced the infiltration of T cells into tumor tissues, compared to mice immunized with PLLA fibers coated with the antigen. Our current findings open a new avenue in extending the biomedical application of inorganic metal oxide-inert organic hybrid nanocomposites as a novel vaccine platform. ZnO nanowire-PLLA microfiber hybrid nanocomposites induce anti-tumor immunity via intracellular delivery of associated tumor antigen and stimulation of innate immunity.