Nature Biomedical Engineering: Put a silica coat on cancer cells to make cancer vaccines, which can eradicate tumors and can be stored for a long time

Cancer is a medical problem that human beings still cannot overcome

However, due to the lack of widely expressed tumor antigens in many cancers, the clinical efficacy and application of cancer vaccines have been hindered

On November 1, 2021, researchers from the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center published a research paper titled Cancer vaccines from cryogenically silicified tumour cells functionalized with pathogen-associated molecular patterns in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering .

The study demonstrated that cancer vaccines can be made by low-temperature silicification of tumor cells, storing tumor antigens in a nano-silica layer, and then modifying the silicified surface with pathogen-related molecular patterns

The development of any or all forms of cancer vaccines is an important goal for scientists, and some progress has been made in this regard

But it is worth noting that more work needs to be done before a vaccine that directly fights cancer can be developed-either to prevent the formation of tumors or to eliminate them after they have formed

Unfortunately, the human body does not express universal tumor antigens that can be used to make this vaccine

Next, the research team tried a new method, using autologous tumor cells coated with silica-more specifically, by low-temperature silicification of tumor cells

Schematic diagram of low-temperature siliconized tumor vaccine production

Immediately afterwards, the researchers added another pathogen-like coating on the silicified surface, and modified the silicified surface with pathogen-related molecular patterns

Surface coating activates dendritic cells and enhances anti-tumor function

In order to further verify whether the vaccine is effective at the individual level, the researchers developed a personalized vaccine for mouse models of ovarian cancer

In mouse tumor models, low-temperature siliconized cancer vaccine successfully eradicated tumor tissue

Low-temperature siliconized cancer vaccines can work synergistically with cisplatin to enhance the killing power against cancer cells

All in all, this research has developed a cancer vaccine based on low-temperature siliconization technology.

Original source:

Guo, J.