Amping up T cells to target cancer
Vaccines that turn the body’s immune system against tumors have shown promise in clinical trials, and a handful have been FDA approved for certain cancers. In many patients, however, these vaccines don’t stimulate enough of a response, and the approach some researchers have taken to strengthening it—delivering the vaccine along with immune-stimulating molecules called cytokines—can…
Researchers at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Houston have developed a novel method to boost the efficacy of mRNA cancer vaccines and infectious disease vaccines. Traditional vaccines generate both antibodies and T cells, which activate antigen-presenting cells to tell the immune system what to target. The team created a new type of vaccine adjuvant, which is a substance that enhances the immune system's response.
This adjuvant consists of mRNAs encoding two genes that activate immune cells by turning on specific signaling pathways. In mouse models of various cancers, including bladder cancer, colon carcinoma, melanoma, and metastatic lung cancer, injections of the lipid nanoparticles containing the mRNA-encoded adjuvant led to tumor growth being slowed and many tumors being eradicated.
This effect occurred even without administering a vaccine targeting a specific cancer antigen; however, when a vaccine was given, the response was stronger. The mRNA adjuvant also enhanced the immune response to checkpoint blockade inhibitors, which are FDA-approved drugs that treat several types of cancer by removing a "brake" on T cells.
Furthermore, when the mRNA particles were delivered to mice alongside COVID or flu vaccines, the vaccine response was 10 to 15 times stronger than with the vaccine alone. The team plans to test this approach in additional animal models to develop it for use in both cancer and infectious diseases.
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