Gold Glyconanoparticles Combined with 91-99 Peptide of the Bacterial Toxin, Listeriolysin O, Are Efficient Immunotherapies in Experimental Bladder Tumors

This study presents proof of concept assays to validate gold nanoparticles loaded with the bacterial peptide 91-99 of the listeriolysin O toxin (GNP-LLO nanovaccines) as immunotherapy for bladder tumors. GNP-LLO nanovaccines showed adjuvant abilities as they induce maturation and activation of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs) to functional antigen-presenting cells in healthy donors and patients with melanoma or bladder cancer (BC), promoting a Th1 cytokine pattern. GNP-LLO nanovaccines were also efficient dendritic cell inducers of immunogenic tumor death using different bladder and melanoma tumor cell lines. The establishment of a pre-clinical mice model of subcutaneous BC confirmed that a single dose of GNP-LLO nanovaccines reduced tumor burden 4.7-fold and stimulated systemic Th1-type immune responses. Proof of concept assays validated GNP-LLO nanovaccines as immunotherapy by comparison to anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1 antibodies. In fact, GNP-LLO nanovaccines increased percentages of CD4 and CD8 T cells, B cells, and functional antigen-presenting DCs in tumor-infiltrated lymphocytes, while they reduced the levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and suppressor T cells (T). We conclude that GNP-LLO nanovaccines can work as monotherapies or combinatory immunotherapies with anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1 antibodies for solid tumors with high T cell infiltration, such as bladder cancer or melanoma.