Background: Inspired by nature, the biomimetic approach has been incorporated into drug nanocarriers for cancer targeted chemotherapy. The nanocarriers are cloaked in cell membranes, which enables them to incorporate the functions of natural cells.Key scientific concepts of review: Nanocarriers surface engineered with cell membranes have emerged as a fascinating source of materials for cancer targeted chemotherapy. A distinctive characteristic of cell membrane-coated nanocarriers (CMCNs) is that they include carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, in addition to being biocompatible. CMCNs are capable of interacting with the complicated biological milieu of the tumor because they contain the signaling networks and intrinsic functions of their parent cells. Numerous cell membranes have been investigated for the purpose of masking nanocarriers with membranes, and various tumor-targeting methods have been devised to improve cancer targeted chemotherapy. Moreover, the diverse structure of the membrane from different cell sources broadens the spectrum of CMCNs and offers an entirely new class of drug-delivery systems.Aim of review: This review will describe the manufacturing processes for CMCNs and the therapeutic uses for different kinds of cell membrane-coated nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems, as well as addressing obstacles and future prospects.Graphical

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells represent a potentially curative therapy for patients with advanced hematological cancers; however, uncertainties surround the cell-intrinsic fitness as well as the exhaustion that restrict the capacity of CAR-T. Decitabine (DAC), a DNA demethylating agent, has been demonstrated to reverse exhaustion-associated DNA-methylation programs and to improve T cell responses against tumors. Here we show that DAC significantly enhances antileukemia functions of CD123 CAR-T cells in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, it inhibits the expression of DMNT3a and DNMT1. Using the Illumina Methylation EPIC BeadChip (850 K), we identified differentially methylated regions, most of which undergo hypomethylated changes. Transcriptomic profiling revealed that CD123 CAR-T cells treated with DAC were enriched in genes associated with naive, early memory T cells, as well as non-exhausted T cells. DAC treatment also results in upregulation of immune synapse-related genes. Finally, our data further suggest that DAC works through the regulation of cellular differentiation characterized by naive and memory phenotypes. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that DAC improves the anti-leukemia properties of CD123-directed CAR-T cells, and provides a basis for rational combinatorial CAR-T-based immunotherapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Chimeric antigen receptors T (CAR-T) cell therapy of cancer is a rapidly evolving field. It has been shown to be remarkably effective in cases of hematological malignancies, and its approval by the FDA has significantly increased the enthusiasm for wide clinical usage and development of novel CAR-T therapies. However, it has also challenged physicians and investigators to recognize and deal with treatment-associated toxicities. A total of 2592 patients were included from 84 eligible studies that were systematically searched and reviewed from the databases of PubMed, de, the American Society of Hematology and the Cochrane Library. The meta-analysis and subgroup analysis by a Bayesian logistic regression model were used to evaluate the incidences of therapy-related toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurological symptoms (NS), and the differences between different targets and cancer types were analyzed. The pooled all-grade CRS rate and grade ≥ 3 CRS rate was 77% and 29%, respectively, with a significantly higher incidence in the hematologic malignancies (all-grade: 81%; grade ≥ 3: 29%) than in solid tumors (all-grade: 37%; grade ≥ 3: 19%). The pooled estimate NS rate from the individual studies were 40% for all-grade and 28% for grade ≥ 3. It was also higher in the hematologic subgroup than in the solid tumors group. The subgroup analysis by cancer type showed that higher incidences of grade ≥ 3 CRS were observed in anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy for ALL and NHL, anti-BCMA CAR-T for MM, and anti-CEA CAR-T for solid tumors, which were between 24–36%, while higher incidences of grade ≥ 3 NS were mainly observed in CD19-ALL/NHL (23–37%) and BCMA-MM (12%). Importantly, subgroup analysis on anti-CD19 CAR-T studies showed that young patients (vs. adult patients), allologous T cell origin (vs. autologous origin), gamma retrovirus vector, and higher doses of CAR-T cells were associated with high-grade CRS. On the other hand, the patients with NHL (vs ALL), administered with higher dose of CAR-T, and adult patients (vs. young patients) had an increased incidence of grade ≥ 3 NS events. This study offers a comprehensive summary of treatment-related toxicity and will guide future clinical trials and therapeutic designs investigating CAR T cell therapy.

Backgrounds: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has achieved unprecedented success in treating hematopoietic malignancies. However, this cell therapy is hampered in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) due to lack of ideal cell surface targets that only express on AML blasts and leukemia stem cells (LSCs) but not on normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).Methods: We detected the CD70 expression on the surfaces of AML cell lines, primary AML cells, HSC, and peripheral blood cells and generated a second-generation CD70-specific CAR-T cells using a construct containing a humanized 41D12-based scFv and a 41BB-CD3ζ intracellular signaling domain. Cytotoxicity, cytokine release, and proliferation in antigen stimulation, CD107a assay, and CFSE assays were used to demonstrate the potent anti-leukemia activity in vitro. A Molm-13 xenograft mouse model was established to evaluate the anti-leukemic activity of CD70 CAR-T in vivo. CFU assay was explored to assess the safety of CD70 CAR-T on HSC.Results: CD70 heterogeneously expressed on AML primary cells, including leukemia blasts, leukemic progenitor, and stem cells, but not expressed on normal HSCs and majority of blood cells. Anti-CD70 CAR-T cells exhibited potent cytotoxicity, cytokines production, and proliferation when incubated with CD70⁺ AML cell lines. It also displayed robust anti-leukemia activity and prolonged survival in Molm-13 xenograft mouse model. However, such CAR-T cell therapy did not completely eliminate leukemia in vivo.Discussion: Our study reveals that anti-CD70 CAR-T cells are a new potential treatment for AML. However, such CAR-T cell therapy did not completely eliminate leukemia in vivo, suggesting that future studies aiming to generate innovative combinatorial CAR constructs or to increase CD70 expression density on leukemia cell surface to prolong the life-span of CAR-T cells in the circulation will be needed in order to optimize CAR-T cell responses for AML.

Anti-CD47 antibodies targeting macrophage immune checkpoints have demonstrated benefit in clinical trials, particularly in combination with targeted therapies. Nevertheless, this strategy faces challenges from suboptimal efficacy and on-target toxicity due to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and ubiquitous CD47 expression. Here, we report a novel oncolytic vaccine virus (OVV) that expresses therapeutic transgenes encoding an anti-mouse CD47 nanobody or an anti-human CD47 nanobody fused with the IgG1 Fc fragment (termed OVV-mCD47nb and OVV-hCD47nb-G1, respectively), and show that anti-CD47 nanobodies secreted by lymphoma cells infected with armed OVV enhanced tumor phagocytosis via blockade of the CD47/SIRPα signal pathway. In an implanted subcutaneous lymphoma mouse model, OVV-mCD47nb demonstrated superior therapeutic efficacy and significantly prolonged survival of tumor-bearing mice when compared to its parental OVV, an effect which might be associated with the recruitment and activation of macrophages, natural killer cells, and T cells within the tumor microenvironment. Importantly, we discovered that the specific binding of secreted hCD47nb-G1 to CD47 enhanced macrophage-mediated tumor cell phagocytosis while sparing red blood cells. OVV-hCD47nb-G1 demonstrated superior antitumor efficacy compared to the anti-CD47 antibody Hu5F9 in lymphoma models. Both intratumoral and intraperitoneal administration of OVV-hCD47nb-G1 achieved significant tumor regression and prolonged survival, potentially through tumor microenvironment reprogramming via enhanced immune cell activation. Notably, combination with CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells synergistically improved therapeutic outcomes in subcutaneous lymphomas by overcoming the critical barrier of limited chimeric antigen receptor T-cell infiltration. Our findings establish that arming OVV with a CD47-blocking nanobody and IgG1 Fc creates a dual-functional therapeutic platform, offering a paradigm-shifting strategy for lymphoma immunotherapy through coordinated innate and adaptive immune activation.