Cell membrane-encapsulated magnetic nanoparticles for enhancing natural killer cell-mediated cancer immunotherapy

Natural killer (NK) cells have exhibited therapeutic potential for various malignant tumors. However, the cytotoxic effect of NK cells is relatively weak and less specific compared to other immunotherapy approaches such as chimeric antigen receptor T-Cell (CART) therapy, constituting a great challenge for adoptive immunotherapy. Here, we report cell membrane-encapsulated magnetic nanoparticles for activating NK cells and enhancing anti-tumor effects. Magnetic nanoparticles were coated with silicon dioxide (SiO2), and cancer cell membranes were mixed with Fe3O4@SiO2 to construct cancer cell membrane coated Fe3O4@SiO2 magnetic nanoparticles (CMNPs). The functionalized nanoparticles bearing cancer-specific antigens on the surface effectively stimulated NK cells by enhancing expression of surface activating receptors and boosting anti-tumor function through the secretion of soluble cytotoxic effectors. To conclude, the biomimetic magnetic nanoparticles offer a versatile and powerful tool to present tumor-specific antigens, priming anti-tumor capability, which is promising to enhance NK cell-based adoptive cancer immunotherapy. Novel tumor cell-derived membrane coated Fe3O4@SiO2 magnetic nanoparticles, containing tumor-specific antigens, serve an antigen presenting platform to activate NK cells by enhancing the expression level of surface activating receptors as well as markers (i.e., NKG2D, NKp30, NKp44, NKp46, and CD69), and increasing the secretion of cytotoxic factors including granzyme B, perforin and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) for enhanced NK cells-based immunotherapy. [Display omitted]