Korean researchers at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), led by Professor Wooram Park, report the next-generation immunotherapy using immunoactive nanoparticles and electrical ablation. The study published online on May 16 in ‘Small’, an international academic journal in the field of materials and nanotechnology.

Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that activates our immune system to fight cancer cells. Macrophages are effector cells of innate immunity, capable of killing cancer cells and presenting cancer antigens.

The activation of macrophages can activate other immune cells. Thus, research on various materials capable of activating macrophages for effective immunotherapy is being actively conducted. It was recently reported that manganese, a metal ion, can induce the activation of macrophages. However, when manganese ions are directly administered to a tumor, they are not effectively internalized into immune cells, and manganese ions are easily leaked out of the tumor, causing systemic toxicity.

This research team developed a metal-phenol network-based immunoactive nanoparticle containing manganese ions and an immunoadjuvant (i.e., CpG oligodeoxynucleotide). Immunoactive nanoparticles were more easily internalized into macrophages than manganese ions and immunoadjuvants and induced efficient macrophage activation even at low doses. In animal experiments, immunoactive nanoparticles injected into tumors were retained in the tumor for a long time to induce activation of immune cells without side effects.

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a state-of-the-art ablation technique that uses a strong pulsed electric field to permanently damage the cellular membranes of cancer cells to cause apoptosis. Clinical research on IRE is being conducted around the world, focusing on solid cancers such as liver, pancreatic, kidney, and prostate cancer. IRE has the advantage of less damage to surrounding tissues compared to thermal ablation, such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which has been widely used for tumor treatment.

The researchers reported that the combinational treatment of immunoactive nanoparticles and IRE in a mouse tumor model effectively inhibited tumor growth by increasing the activated immune cells infiltrating the tumor.

Professor Park said, “Through active collaboration, we were able to develop a new combinational immunotherapy technology. We will contribute to the development of effective cancer treatments through multidisciplinary research in the field of integrative biotechnlogy.”

[Reference] Jun-Hyeok Han†, Ha Eun Shin†, Jiyoung Lee, Jeon Min Kang, Jung-Hoon Park, Chun Gwon Park, Dong Keun Han*, Ik-Hwan Kim*, and Wooram Park* Combination of Metal-Phenolic Network-based Immunoactive Nanoparticles and Bipolar Irreversible Electroporation for Effective Cancer Immunotherapy. Small, 2022, 2200316

[Main Author] Jun-Hyeok Han (Sungkyunkwan University & Korea University), Ha Eun Shin (Sungkyunkwan University), Dong Keun Han (CHA University), Ik-Hwan Kim (Korea University), Wooram Park (Sungkyunkwan University)

* Contact : Professor Wooram Park (parkwr@skku.edu)