Bioinspired Hybrid Protein Oxygen Nanocarrier Amplified Photodynamic Therapy for Eliciting Anti-tumor Immunity and Abscopal Effect

Abstract

An ideal cancer therapeutic strategy is expected to possess potent ability to not only ablate primary tumors but also prevent distance metastasis and relapse. In this study, human serum albumin was hybridized with hemoglobin by intermolecular disulfide bonds to develop a hybrid protein oxygen nanocarrier with chlorine e6 encapsulated (C@HPOC) for oxygen self-sufficient photodynamic therapy (PDT). C@HPOC realized the tumor-targeted co-delivery of photosensitizer and oxygen, which remarkably relieved tumor hypoxia. C@HPOC was favorable for more efficient PDT and enhanced infiltration of CD8+ T cells in tumors. Moreover, oxygen-boosted PDT of C@HPOC induced immunogenic cell death, with the release of danger-associated molecular patterns to activate dendritic cells, T lymphocytes, and natural killer cells in vivo. Notably, C@HPOC-mediated immunogenic PDT could destroy primary tumors and effectively suppress distant tumors and lung metastasis in a metastatic triple-negative breast cancer model by evoking systemic anti-tumor immunity. This study provides a paradigm of oxygen-augmented immunogenic PDT for metastatic cancer treatment.