Immunogenic chemotherapy is a promising approach in cancer treatment, but the number of drugs capable of inducing immunogenic cell death is limited, and chronic immunogenic exposure can delay antitumor immune response and be counteracted by immunosuppressive factors. In this study, we used single-cell and multilevel analyses to highlight the critical importance of the first exposure to calreticulin (CRT) in eliciting immunogenicity. We then developed the ERASION (endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane to assist (AS) the presentation of intrinsic onco-immunogenicity (ION)) strategy, leveraging the high expression of functional proteins, including CRT, on the ER membrane. ER membrane-coated liposome (ER@PLip) was able to target the tumor and immune effectors and promoted dendritic cell maturation and T cell infiltration. This enabled eliciting an immunogenic effect from a nonimmunogenic chemotherapeutic drug. By utilizing the ER membrane-associated STING protein, ERASION enabled activating the STING pathway and the generation of adaptive antitumor immunity. This study presents a potential universal platform for integrating traditional chemotherapy and therapeutic modalities.
Keywords: antitumor immunity; calreticulin; endoplasmic reticulum; immunogenic chemotherapy; mass cytometry.