Oncolytic bacteria VNP20009 expressing IFNβ inhibits melanoma progression by remodeling the tumor microenvironment

Lina Liu; Qiang Li; Chen Chen; Wenjie Xin; Chao Han; Zichun Hua

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.109372

Oncolytic bacteria VNP20009 expressing IFNβ inhibits melanoma progression by remodeling the tumor microenvironment

iScience. 2024 Mar 2;27(4):109372. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109372. eCollection 2024 Apr 19.

Authors

Lina Liu¹, Qiang Li¹, Chen Chen¹, Wenjie Xin¹, Chao Han¹, Zichun Hua^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences; Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China.
² Changzhou High-Tech Research Institute of Nanjing University and Jiangsu, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213164, China.
³ TargetPharma Laboratories Inc, Changzhou 213164, Jiangsu, China.

Abstract

In the tumor microenvironment (TME), tumor-associated NEs (TANs) have the potential to be protumorigenic or antitumorigenic within the TME in response to environmental cues. The diversity and plasticity of NEs (NEs) underlie the dual potential of TANs in the TME. Here, we utilized the tumor-targeting bacterium VNP20009 (VNP) to carry a plasmid expressed IFNβ (VNP-IFNβ), which can deliver IFNβ and remodel TANs to an antitumorigenic phenotype, and performed preclinical evaluations in the B16F10 lung metastasis model and the B16F10 subcutaneous xenograft model. Compared with VNP, VNP-IFNβ recruited more NEs and macrophages (Mφs) with antitumor phenotypes in lung metastases and activated dendritic cells (DCs) differentiation, which activated antitumor immune responses of CD4⁺ T cells, and ultimately inhibited melanoma progression. This study enriches the bacterial-mediated tumor therapy by using tumor-targeting bacteria to deliver IFNβ to the tumor site and inhibit melanoma growth and metastasis by remodeling the tumor immune microenvironment.

Keywords: Cancer; Immunology; Microenvironment.