Human retinoic acid-regulated CD161+ regulatory T cells support wound repair in intestinal mucosa.

Repair of tissue damaged during inflammatory processes is key to the return of local homeostasis and restoration of epithelial integrity. Here we describe CD161+ regulatory T (Treg) cells as a distinct, highly suppressive population of Treg cells that mediate wound healing. These Treg cells were enriched in intestinal lamina propria, particularly in Crohn's disease. CD161+ Treg cells had an all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-regulated gene signature, and CD161 expression on Treg cells was induced by ATRA, which directly regulated the CD161 gene. CD161 was co-stimulatory, and ligation with the T cell antigen receptor induced cytokines that accelerated the wound healing of intestinal epithelial cells. We identified a transcription-factor network, including BACH2, RORγt, FOSL2, AP-1 and RUNX1, that controlled expression of the wound-healing program, and found a CD161+ Treg cell signature in Crohn's disease mucosa associated with reduced inflammation. These findings identify CD161+ Treg cells as a population involved in controlling the balance between inflammation and epithelial barrier healing in the gut.

A highly selective and potent CXCR4 antagonist for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.

The CXC chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) receptor and its ligand, CXCL12, are overexpressed in various cancers and mediate tumor progression and hypoxia-mediated resistance to cancer therapy. While CXCR4 antagonists have potential anticancer effects when combined with conventional anticancer drugs, their poor potency against CXCL12/CXCR4 downstream signaling pathways and systemic toxicity had precluded clinical application. Herein, BPRCX807, known as a safe, selective, and potent CXCR4 antagonist, has been designed and experimentally realized. In in vitro and in vivo hepatocellular carcinoma mouse models it can significantly suppress primary tumor growth, prevent distant metastasis/cell migration, reduce angiogenesis, and normalize the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment by reducing tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) infiltration, reprogramming TAMs toward an immunostimulatory phenotype and promoting cytotoxic T cell infiltration into tumor. Although BPRCX807 treatment alone prolongs overall survival as effectively as both marketed sorafenib and anti-PD-1, it could synergize with either of them in combination therapy to further extend life expectancy and suppress distant metastasis more significantly.

Reversal of pancreatic desmoplasia by a tumour stroma-targeted nitric oxide nanogel overcomes TRAIL resistance in pancreatic tumours.

OBJECTIVE: Stromal barriers, such as the abundant desmoplastic stroma that is characteristic of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), can block the delivery and decrease the tumour-penetrating ability of therapeutics such as tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), which can selectively induce cancer cell apoptosis. This study aimed to develop a TRAIL-based nanotherapy that not only eliminated the extracellular matrix barrier to increase TRAIL delivery into tumours but also blocked antiapoptotic mechanisms to overcome TRAIL resistance in PDAC. DESIGN: Nitric oxide (NO) plays a role in preventing tissue desmoplasia and could thus be delivered to disrupt the stromal barrier and improve TRAIL delivery in PDAC. We applied an in vitro-in vivo combinatorial phage display technique to identify novel peptide ligands to target the desmoplastic stroma in both murine and human orthotopic PDAC. We then constructed a stroma-targeted nanogel modified with phage display-identified tumour stroma-targeting peptides to co-deliver NO and TRAIL to PDAC and examined the anticancer effect in three-dimensional spheroid cultures in vitro and in orthotopic PDAC models in vivo. RESULTS: The delivery of NO to the PDAC tumour stroma resulted in reprogramming of activated pancreatic stellate cells, alleviation of tumour desmoplasia and downregulation of antiapoptotic BCL-2 protein expression, thereby facilitating tumour penetration by TRAIL and substantially enhancing the antitumour efficacy of TRAIL therapy. CONCLUSION: The co-delivery of TRAIL and NO by a stroma-targeted nanogel that remodels the fibrotic tumour microenvironment and suppresses tumour growth has the potential to be translated into a safe and promising treatment for PDAC.

Natural product myricetin is a pan-KDM4 inhibitor which with poly lactic-co-glycolic acid formulation effectively targets castration-resistant prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) with sustained androgen receptor (AR) signaling remains a critical clinical challenge, despite androgen depletion therapy. The Jumonji C-containing histone lysine demethylase family 4 (KDM4) members, KDM4A‒KDM4C, serve as critical coactivators of AR to promote tumor growth in prostate cancer and are candidate therapeutic targets to overcome AR mutations/alterations-mediated resistance in CRPC. METHODS: In this study, using a structure-based approach, we identified a natural product, myricetin, able to block the demethylation of histone 3 lysine 9 trimethylation by KDM4 members and evaluated its effects on CRPC. A structure-based screening was employed to search for a natural product that inhibited KDM4B. Inhibition kinetics of myricetin was determined. The cytotoxic effect of myricetin on various prostate cancer cells was evaluated. The combined effect of myricetin with enzalutamide, a second-generation AR inhibitor toward C4-2B, a CRPC cell line, was assessed. To improve bioavailability, myricetin encapsulated by poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), the US food and drug administration (FDA)-approved material as drug carriers, was synthesized and its antitumor activity alone or with enzalutamide was evaluated using in vivo C4-2B xenografts. RESULTS: Myricetin was identified as a potent α-ketoglutarate-type inhibitor that blocks the demethylation activity by KDM4s and significantly reduced the proliferation of both androgen-dependent (LNCaP) and androgen-independent CRPC (CWR22Rv1 and C4-2B). A synergistic cytotoxic effect toward C4-2B was detected for the combination of myricetin and enzalutamide. PLGA-myricetin, enzalutamide, and the combined treatment showed significantly greater antitumor activity than that of the control group in the C4-2B xenograft model. Tumor growth was significantly lower for the combination treatment than for enzalutamide or myricetin treatment alone. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that myricetin is a pan-KDM4 inhibitor and exhibited potent cell cytotoxicity toward CRPC cells. Importantly, the combination of PLGA-encapsulated myricetin with enzalutamide is potentially effective for CRPC.

Aberrant DNA methylation defines isoform usage in cancer, with functional implications.

Alternative transcript isoforms are common in tumors and act as potential drivers of cancer. Mechanisms determining altered isoform expression include somatic mutations in splice regulatory sites or altered splicing factors. However, since DNA methylation is known to regulate transcriptional isoform activity in normal cells, we predicted the highly dysregulated patterns of DNA methylation present in cancer also affect isoform activity. We analyzed DNA methylation and RNA-seq isoform data from 18 human cancer types and found frequent correlations specifically within 11 cancer types. Examining the top 25% of variable methylation sites revealed that the location of the methylated CpG site in a gene determined which isoform was used. In addition, the correlated methylation-isoform patterns classified tumors into known subtypes and predicted distinct protein functions between tumor subtypes. Finally, methylation-correlated isoforms were enriched for oncogenes, tumor suppressors, and cancer-related pathways. These findings provide new insights into the functional impact of dysregulated DNA methylation in cancer and highlight the relationship between the epigenome and transcriptome.

Polyproline Tri-Helix Macrocycles as Nanosized Scaffolds to Control Ligand Patterns for Selective Protein Oligomer Interactions.

Multivalent ligand-receptor interactions play essential roles in biological recognition and signaling. As the receptor arrangement on the cell surface can alter the outcome of cell signaling and also provide spatial specificity for ligand binding, controlling the presentation of ligands has become a promising strategy to manipulate or selectively target protein receptors. The lack of adjustable universal tools to control ligand positions at the size of a few nanometers has prompted the development of polyproline tri-helix macrocycles as scaffolds to present ligands in designated patterns. Model lectin Helix pomatia agglutinin has shown selectivity toward the matching GalNAc ligand pattern matching its binding sites arrangement. The GalNAc pattern selectivity is also observed on intact asialoglycoprotein receptor oligomer on human hepatoma cells showing the pattern-selective interaction can be achieved not only on isolated protein oligomers but also the receptors arranged on the cell surface. As the scaffold design allows convenient creation of versatile ligand patterns, it can be expected as a promising tool to probe the arrangement of receptors on the cell surface and as nanomedicine to manipulate signaling or cell recognition.

A multifunctional nanocarrier for efficient TRAIL-based gene therapy against hepatocellular carcinoma with desmoplasia in mice.

The anticancer efficacy of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-based therapy is limited because of systemic toxicity, poor bioavailability, and development of TRAIL resistance. We developed a tumor-targeted LCPP (lipid/calcium/phosphate/protamine) nanoparticle (NP) to deliver TRAIL plasmid DNA (pDNA) into hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in a mouse model of HCC. TRAIL pDNA was encapsulated in a pH stimuli-responsive calcium phosphate (CaP) core, and protamine was added to facilitate nuclear delivery of pDNA. In addition, intracellular release of Ca2+ from the CaP core overcame TRAIL resistance by calcium influx-dependent DR5 up-regulation. TRAIL expression also attenuated fibrosis in liver tissues surrounding HCCs by reverting activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) to a quiescent state or by directly inducing apoptosis in activated HSCs. CONCLUSION: TRAIL pDNA delivered by HCC-targeted LCPP NPs in combination with conventional sorafenib treatment attenuated HCC progression as well as liver fibrosis. Overall, our study presents an effective TRAIL-based cancer therapy that could be developed for clinical applications. (Hepatology 2018;67:899-913).

Galactose Derivative-Modified Nanoparticles for Efficient siRNA Delivery to Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Successful siRNA therapy requires suitable delivery systems with targeting moieties such as small molecules, peptides, antibodies, or aptamers. Galactose (Gal) residues recognized by the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) can serve as potent targeting moieties for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. However, efficient targeting to HCC via galactose moieties rather than normal liver tissues in HCC patients remains a challenge. To achieve more efficient siRNA delivery in HCC, we synthesized various galactoside derivatives and investigated the siRNA delivery capability of nanoparticles modified with those galactoside derivatives. In this study, we assembled lipid/calcium/phosphate nanoparticles (LCP NPs) conjugated with eight types of galactoside derivatives and demonstrated that phenyl ß-d-galactoside-decorated LCP NPs (L4-LCP NPs) exhibited a superior siRNA delivery into HCC cells compared to normal hepatocytes. VEGF siRNAs delivered by L4-LCP NPs downregulated VEGF expression in HCC in vitro and in vivo and led to a potent antiangiogenic effect in the tumor microenvironment of a murine orthotopic HCC model. The efficient delivery of VEGF siRNA by L4-LCP NPs that resulted in significant tumor regression indicates that phenyl galactoside could be a promising HCC-targeting ligand for therapeutic siRNA delivery to treat liver cancer.

Significant associations between driver gene mutations and DNA methylation alterations across many cancer types.

Recent evidence shows that mutations in several driver genes can cause aberrant methylation patterns, a hallmark of cancer. In light of these findings, we hypothesized that the landscapes of tumor genomes and epigenomes are tightly interconnected. We measured this relationship using principal component analyses and methylation-mutation associations applied at the nucleotide level and with respect to genome-wide trends. We found that a few mutated driver genes were associated with genome-wide patterns of aberrant hypomethylation or CpG island hypermethylation in specific cancer types. In addition, we identified associations between 737 mutated driver genes and site-specific methylation changes. Moreover, using these mutation-methylation associations, we were able to distinguish between two uterine and two thyroid cancer subtypes. The driver gene mutation-associated methylation differences between the thyroid cancer subtypes were linked to differential gene expression in JAK-STAT signaling, NADPH oxidation, and other cancer-related pathways. These results establish that driver gene mutations are associated with methylation alterations capable of shaping regulatory network functions. In addition, the methodology presented here can be used to subdivide tumors into more homogeneous subsets corresponding to underlying molecular characteristics, which could improve treatment efficacy.

Quantum dot/antibody conjugates for in vivo cytometric imaging in mice.

Multiplexed, phenotypic, intravital cytometric imaging requires novel fluorophore conjugates that have an appropriate size for long circulation and diffusion and show virtually no nonspecific binding to cells/serum while binding to cells of interest with high specificity. In addition, these conjugates must be stable and maintain a high quantum yield in the in vivo environments. Here, we show that this can be achieved using compact (∼15 nm in hydrodynamic diameter) and biocompatible quantum dot (QD) -Ab conjugates. We developed these conjugates by coupling whole mAbs to QDs coated with norbornene-displaying polyimidazole ligands using tetrazine-norbornene cycloaddition. Our QD immunoconstructs were used for in vivo single-cell labeling in bone marrow. The intravital imaging studies using a chronic calvarial bone window showed that our QD-Ab conjugates diffuse into the entire bone marrow and efficiently label single cells belonging to rare populations of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (Sca1(+)c-Kit(+) cells). This in vivo cytometric technique may be useful in a wide range of structural and functional imaging to study the interactions between cells and between a cell and its environment in intact and diseased tissues.

Matching phenotypes to whole genomes: Lessons learned from four iterations of the personal genome project community challenges.

The advent of next-generation sequencing has dramatically decreased the cost for whole-genome sequencing and increased the viability for its application in research and clinical care. The Personal Genome Project (PGP) provides unrestricted access to genomes of individuals and their associated phenotypes. This resource enabled the Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) to create a community challenge to assess the bioinformatics community's ability to predict traits from whole genomes. In the CAGI PGP challenge, researchers were asked to predict whether an individual had a particular trait or profile based on their whole genome. Several approaches were used to assess submissions, including ROC AUC (area under receiver operating characteristic curve), probability rankings, the number of correct predictions, and statistical significance simulations. Overall, we found that prediction of individual traits is difficult, relying on a strong knowledge of trait frequency within the general population, whereas matching genomes to trait profiles relies heavily upon a small number of common traits including ancestry, blood type, and eye color. When a rare genetic disorder is present, profiles can be matched when one or more pathogenic variants are identified. Prediction accuracy has improved substantially over the last 6 years due to improved methodology and a better understanding of features.

CXCR4 inhibition in tumor microenvironment facilitates anti-programmed death receptor-1 immunotherapy in sorafenib-treated hepatocellular carcinoma in mice.

UNLABELLED: Sorafenib, a broad tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is the only approved systemic therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) but provides limited survival benefits. Recently, immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment strategy, but its role remains unclear in HCCs, which are associated with decreased cytotoxic CD8(+) T-lymphocyte infiltration in both murine and human tumors. Moreover, in mouse models after sorafenib treatment intratumoral hypoxia is increased and may fuel evasive resistance. Using orthotopic HCC models, we now show that increased hypoxia after sorafenib treatment promotes immunosuppression, characterized by increased intratumoral expression of the immune checkpoint inhibitor programmed death ligand-1 and accumulation of T-regulatory cells and M2-type macrophages. We also show that the recruitment of immunosuppressive cells is mediated in part by hypoxia-induced up-regulation of stromal cell-derived 1 alpha. Inhibition of the stromal cell-derived 1 alpha receptor (C-X-C receptor type 4 or CXCR4) using AMD3100 prevented the polarization toward an immunosuppressive microenvironment after sorafenib treatment, inhibited tumor growth, reduced lung metastasis, and improved survival. However, the combination of AMD3100 and sorafenib did not significantly change cytotoxic CD8(+) T-lymphocyte infiltration into HCC tumors and did not modify their activation status. In separate experiments, antibody blockade of the programmed death ligand-1 receptor programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) showed antitumor effects in treatment-naive tumors in orthotopic (grafted and genetically engineered) models of HCC. However, anti-PD-1 antibody treatment had additional antitumor activity only when combined with sorafenib and AMD3100 and not when combined with sorafenib alone. CONCLUSION: Anti-PD-1 treatment can boost antitumor immune responses in HCC models; when used in combination with sorafenib, anti-PD-1 immunotherapy shows efficacy only with concomitant targeting of the hypoxic and immunosuppressive microenvironment with agents such as CXCR4 inhibitors.

Dual-Functional Nanoparticles Targeting CXCR4 and Delivering Antiangiogenic siRNA Ameliorate Liver Fibrosis.

The progression of liver fibrosis, an intrinsic response to chronic liver injury, is associated with hepatic hypoxia, angiogenesis, abnormal inflammation, and significant matrix deposition, leading to the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Due to the complex pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, antifibrotic drug development has faced the challenge of efficiently and specifically targeting multiple pathogenic mechanisms. Therefore, CXCR4-targeted nanoparticles (NPs) were formulated to deliver siRNAs against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) into fibrotic livers to block angiogenesis during the progression of liver fibrosis. AMD3100, a CXCR4 antagonist that was incorporated into the NPs, served dual functions: it acted as a targeting moiety and suppressed the progression of fibrosis by inhibiting the proliferation and activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). We demonstrated that CXCR4-targeted NPs could deliver VEGF siRNAs to fibrotic livers, decrease VEGF expression, suppress angiogenesis and normalize the distorted vessels in the fibrotic livers in the carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced mouse model. Moreover, blocking SDF-1α/CXCR4 by CXCR4-targeted NPs in combination with VEGF siRNA significantly prevented the progression of liver fibrosis in CCl4-treated mice. In conclusion, the multifunctional CXCR4-targeted NPs delivering VEGF siRNAs provide an effective antifibrotic therapeutic strategy.

Delivery of siRNA Using CXCR4-targeted Nanoparticles Modulates Tumor Microenvironment and Achieves a Potent Antitumor Response in Liver Cancer.

Antiangiogenic therapy has recently emerged as a highly promising therapeutic strategy for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the only clinically approved systemic antiangiogenic agent for advanced HCC is sorafenib, which exerts considerable toxicity. Moreover, acquired resistance to antiangiogenic therapy often develops and restricts the therapeutic efficacy of this treatment. Hence, in this study, we develop a CXCR4-targeted lipid-based nanoparticle (NP) formulation to specifically deliver vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) siRNA as an antiangiogenic substance into HCC. AMD3100, a CXCR4 antagonist, is added into NPs to serve as both a targeting moiety and a sensitizer to antiangiogenic therapy. We demonstrate that AMD-modified NPs (AMD-NPs) can efficiently deliver VEGF siRNAs into HCC and downregulate VEGF expression in vitro and in vivo. Despite the upregulation of the SDF1α/CXCR4 axis upon the induction of hypoxia after antiangiogenic therapy, CXCR4 inhibition by AMD-NPs in combination with either conventional sorafenib treatment or VEGF siRNA prevents the infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages. These dual treatments also induce synergistic antiangiogenic effects and suppress local and distant tumor growth in HCC. In conclusion, the tumor-targeted multifunctional AMD-NPs that co-deliver VEGF siRNA and AMD3100 provide an effective approach for overcoming tumor evasion of antiangiogenic therapy, leading to delayed tumor progression in HCC.

A hybrid likelihood model for sequence-based disease association studies.

In the past few years, case-control studies of common diseases have shifted their focus from single genes to whole exomes. New sequencing technologies now routinely detect hundreds of thousands of sequence variants in a single study, many of which are rare or even novel. The limitation of classical single-marker association analysis for rare variants has been a challenge in such studies. A new generation of statistical methods for case-control association studies has been developed to meet this challenge. A common approach to association analysis of rare variants is the burden-style collapsing methods to combine rare variant data within individuals across or within genes. Here, we propose a new hybrid likelihood model that combines a burden test with a test of the position distribution of variants. In extensive simulations and on empirical data from the Dallas Heart Study, the new model demonstrates consistently good power, in particular when applied to a gene set (e.g., multiple candidate genes with shared biological function or pathway), when rare variants cluster in key functional regions of a gene, and when protective variants are present. When applied to data from an ongoing sequencing study of bipolar disorder (191 cases, 107 controls), the model identifies seven gene sets with nominal p-values < 0.05, of which one MAPK signaling pathway (KEGG) reaches trend-level significance after correcting for multiple testing.

Differential effects of sorafenib on liver versus tumor fibrosis mediated by stromal-derived factor 1 alpha/C-X-C receptor type 4 axis and myeloid differentiation antigen-positive myeloid cell infiltration in mice.

UNLABELLED: Sorafenib--a broad kinase inhibitor--is a standard therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and has been shown to exert antifibrotic effects in liver cirrhosis, a precursor of HCC. However, the effects of sorafenib on tumor desmoplasia--and its consequences on treatment resistance--remain unknown. We demonstrate that sorafenib has differential effects on tumor fibrosis versus liver fibrosis in orthotopic models of HCC in mice. Sorafenib intensifies tumor hypoxia, which increases stromal-derived factor 1 alpha (SDF-1α) expression in cancer and stromal cells and, subsequently, myeloid differentiation antigen-positive (Gr-1(+)) myeloid cell infiltration. The SDF-1α/C-X-C receptor type 4 (CXCR4) pathway directly promotes hepatic stellate cell (HSC) differentiation and activation through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. This is consistent with the association between SDF-1α expression with fibrotic septa in cirrhotic liver tissues as well as with desmoplastic regions of human HCC samples. We demonstrate that after treatment with sorafenib, SDF-1α increased the survival of HSCs and their alpha-smooth muscle actin and collagen I expression, thus increasing tumor fibrosis. Finally, we show that Gr-1(+) myeloid cells mediate HSC differentiation and activation in a paracrine manner. CXCR4 inhibition, using AMD3100 in combination with sorafenib treatment, prevents the increase in tumor fibrosis--despite persistently elevated hypoxia--in part by reducing Gr-1(+) myeloid cell infiltration and inhibits HCC growth. Similarly, antibody blockade of Gr-1 reduces tumor fibrosis and inhibits HCC growth when combined with sorafenib treatment. CONCLUSION: Blocking SDF-1α/CXCR4 or Gr-1(+) myeloid cell infiltration may reduce hypoxia-mediated HCC desmoplasia and increase the efficacy of sorafenib treatment.

A probabilistic model to predict clinical phenotypic traits from genome sequencing.

Genetic screening is becoming possible on an unprecedented scale. However, its utility remains controversial. Although most variant genotypes cannot be easily interpreted, many individuals nevertheless attempt to interpret their genetic information. Initiatives such as the Personal Genome Project (PGP) and Illumina's Understand Your Genome are sequencing thousands of adults, collecting phenotypic information and developing computational pipelines to identify the most important variant genotypes harbored by each individual. These pipelines consider database and allele frequency annotations and bioinformatics classifications. We propose that the next step will be to integrate these different sources of information to estimate the probability that a given individual has specific phenotypes of clinical interest. To this end, we have designed a Bayesian probabilistic model to predict the probability of dichotomous phenotypes. When applied to a cohort from PGP, predictions of Gilbert syndrome, Graves' disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and various blood groups were accurate, as individuals manifesting the phenotype in question exhibited the highest, or among the highest, predicted probabilities. Thirty-eight PGP phenotypes (26%) were predicted with area-under-the-ROC curve (AUC)>0.7, and 23 (15.8%) of these were statistically significant, based on permutation tests. Moreover, in a Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) blinded prediction experiment, the models were used to match 77 PGP genomes to phenotypic profiles, generating the most accurate prediction of 16 submissions, according to an independent assessor. Although the models are currently insufficiently accurate for diagnostic utility, we expect their performance to improve with growth of publicly available genomics data and model refinement by domain experts.

RNA-encapsulating lipid nanoparticles in cancer immunotherapy: From pre-clinical studies to clinical trials.

Nanoparticle-based delivery systems such as RNA-encapsulating lipid nanoparticles (RNA LNPs) have dramatically advanced in function and capacity over the last few decades. RNA LNPs boast of a diverse array of external and core configurations that enhance targeted delivery and prolong circulatory retention, advancing therapeutic outcomes. Particularly within the realm of cancer immunotherapies, RNA LNPs are increasingly gaining prominence. Pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo studies have laid a robust foundation for new and ongoing clinical trials that are actively enrolling patients for RNA LNP cancer immunotherapy. This review explores RNA LNPs, starting from their core composition to their external membrane formulation, set against a backdrop of recent clinical breakthroughs. We further elucidate the LNP delivery avenues, broach the prevailing challenges, and contemplate the future perspectives of RNA LNP-mediated immunotherapy.

Nanotechnology for Targeted Inflammatory Bowel Disease Therapy: Challenges and Opportunities.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex and recurring inflammatory disorder that affects the gastrointestinal tract and is influenced by genetic predisposition, immune dysregulation, the gut microbiota, and environmental factors. Advanced therapies, such as biologics and small molecules, target diverse immune pathways to manage IBD. Nanoparticle (NP)-based drugs have emerged as effective tools, offering controlled drug release and targeted delivery. This review highlights NP modifications for anti-inflammatory purposes, utilizing changes such as those in size, charge, redox reactions, and ligand-receptor interactions in drug delivery systems. By using pathological and microenvironmental cues to guide NP design, precise targeting can be achieved. In IBD, a crucial aspect of NP intervention is targeting specific types of cells, such as immune and epithelial cells, to address compromised intestinal barrier function and reduce overactive immune responses. This review also addresses current challenges and future prospects, with the goal of advancing the development of NP-mediated strategies for IBD treatment.