AUTHOR=Dölen Yusuf , Gileadi Uzi , Chen Ji-Li , Valente Michael , Creemers Jeroen H. A. , Van Dinther Eric A. W. , van Riessen N. Koen , Jäger Eliezer , Hruby Martin , Cerundolo Vincenzo , Diken Mustafa , Figdor Carl G. , de Vries I. Jolanda M. TITLE=PLGA Nanoparticles Co-encapsulating NY-ESO-1 Peptides and IMM60 Induce Robust CD8 and CD4 T Cell and B Cell Responses JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.641703 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2021.641703 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Tumor-specific neoantigens can be highly immunogenic, but their identification for each patient and the production of personalized cancer vaccines can be time-consuming and prohibitively expensive. In contrast, tumor-associated antigens are widely expressed and suitable as an off the shelf immunotherapy. Here, we developed a PLGA-based nanoparticle vaccine that contains both the immunogenic cancer germline antigen NY-ESO-1 and an α-GalCer analog IMM60, as a novel iNKT cell agonist and dendritic cell transactivator. Three peptide sequences (85–111, 117–143, and 157–165) derived from immunodominant regions of NY-ESO-1 were selected. These peptides have a wide HLA coverage and were efficiently processed and presented by dendritic cells via various HLA subtypes. Co-delivery of IMM60 enhanced CD4 and CD8 T cell responses and antibody levels against NY-ESO-1 in vivo. Moreover, the nanoparticles have negligible systemic toxicity in high doses, and they could be produced according to GMP guidelines. Together, we demonstrated the feasibility of producing a PLGA-based nanovaccine containing immunogenic peptides and an iNKT cell agonist, that is activating DCs to induce antigen-specific T cell responses.