The efficacy of immunotherapy combined with other therapeutic modalities in the management of cancer has been extensively studied. However, no effective strategy to improve the antitumor effects of immunotherapy at the tumor site has been developed. In this study, we describe a nanoformulation (CP) that integrates ferroptosis-inducing cannabinoid nanoparticles with immunostimulatory Poly(I:C) to enhance antitumor immune responses by activating ferroptosis-immunotherapy pathways. The results indicated that CP nanoformulation effectively induced ferroptosis, cellular immunogenic death, and anti-tumor immune responses which initiate T cell responses leading to the inhibition of established tumors. In addition, CP nanoformulations reversed the tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment and promoted tumor ferroptosis. These results indicated that the self-amplifying nanoformulation may be an effective strategy for broad-spectrum cancer immunotherapy.
Keywords: Cannabinoid; Ferroptosis; Immunogenic cell death; Immunotherapy; PD-L1; Poly(I:C).
Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.