Nanoparticle-mediated tumor cell expression of mIL-12 via systemic gene delivery treats syngeneic models of murine lung cancers

• Main Authors: Hye-Hyun Ahn, Christine Carrington, Yizong Hu, Heng-wen Liu, Christy Ng, Hwanhee Nam, Andrew Park, Catherine Stace, Will West, Hai-Quan Mao, Martin G. Pomper, Christopher G. Ullman, Il Minn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021-05-01
• Series: Scientific Reports
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89124-4

Abstract Treatment of cancers in the lung remains a critical challenge in the clinic for which gene therapy could offer valuable options. We describe an effective approach through systemic injection of engineered polymer/DNA nanoparticles that mediate tumor-specific expression of a therapeutic gene, under the control of the cancer-selective progression elevated gene 3 (PEG-3) promoter, to treat tumors in the lungs of diseased mice. A clinically tested, untargeted, polyethylenimine carrier was selected to aid rapid transition to clinical studies, and a CpG-free plasmid backbone and coding sequences were used to reduce inflammation. Intravenous administration of nanoparticles expressing murine single-chain interleukin 12, under the control of PEG-3 promoter, significantly improved the survival of mice in both an orthotopic and a metastatic model of lung cancer with no marked symptoms of systemic toxicity. These outcomes achieved using clinically relevant nanoparticle components raises the promise of translation to human therapy.