Peptide-based targeting of immunosuppressive cells in cancer

Noah T Trac; Eun Ji Chung

doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2020.01.006

Peptide-based targeting of immunosuppressive cells in cancer

Bioact Mater. 2020 Jan 15;5(1):92-101. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2020.01.006. eCollection 2020 Mar.

Authors

Noah T Trac¹, Eun Ji Chung^{1

2

3

4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Vascular Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁶ Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Cancer progression is marked by the infiltration of immunosuppressive cells, such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs), and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). These cells play a key role in abrogating the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated (CTL) immune response, allowing tumor growth to proceed unabated. Furthermore, targeting these immunosuppressive cells through the use of peptides and peptide-based nanomedicine has shown promising results. Here we review the origins and functions of immunosuppressive cells in cancer progression, peptide-based systems used in their targeting, and explore future avenues of research regarding cancer immunotherapy. The success of these studies demonstrates the importance of the tumor immune microenvironment in the propagation of cancer and the potential of peptide-based nanomaterials as immunomodulatory agents.

Keywords: Immunosuppression; Nanoparticle; Peptide; Tumor microenvironment.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding