Publication - Abstract
September 15, 2021
Therapeutic peptide cancer vaccines are known to have limited therapeutic effects due to the low immunogenicity of peptides in its composition. In hopes of increasing this therapeutic window, researchers from the Hook Group at the University of Otago School of Pharmacy published an article that investigated the potential of bacteria biohybrid oral vaccines to treat colorectal cancer using liposomal formulations and w/o/w emulsions. With the help of the NanoAssemblr ®’s microfluidic mixing technology, authors were able to synthesize liposomes E. coli co-encapsulated with tumor antigens, such as, CD8 epitope, CD4 epitope and AH1td peptide with adjuvants like Pam2Cys. The application of these biohybrid vaccines to murine bone marrow derived dendritic cells (BMDC) in vitro and to BALB/c mouse models of colorectal cancer in vivo illustrated how liposome-bacteria biohybrids induced a more robust uptake within cells due to its cationic charge and tunable droplet size when compared to double emulsion bacteria biohybrids. Results of this paper highlight that delivery of a bacterium rather than peptide antigens alone are capable of inducing higher immunostimulatory effects due to certain bacterial properties, such as, PAMPs, and lipopolysaccharide components. In the grand scheme, this paper serves as an essential cornerstone for further developments in liposomal formulations that foster a more stable conjugation in bacteria biohybrid vaccines to further accelerate the synthesis of effective anti-cancer therapeutics and enhancement of vaccine delivery.