Solid-in-Oil Peptide Nanocarriers for Transcutaneous Cancer Vaccine Delivery against Melanoma

Cancer vaccines represent a prophylactic or therapeutic method of suppressing cancer by activating the adaptive immune system. The immune response is initiated by the delivery of tumor antigens to antigen presenting cells (APCs). The use of peptides as vaccine antigens is advantageous, especially in the availability and productivity of pure and defined antigens. However, their limited immunogenicity remains a major drawback, and therefore, the utilization of nanocarriers as a means of delivering antigens to target cells and/or the addition of immune stimulants have been investigated as an efficient peptide-based cancer vaccine. We have developed a solid-in-oil (S/O) nanodispersion as a transcutaneous nanocarrier for hydrophilic molecules. This system has attractive features as a peptide nanocarrier for cancer vaccines, including transcutaneous targeting of professional APCs in the skin, high encapsulation efficacy of hydrophilic molecules, and capacity for coloading with a variety of immune stimulants such as adjuvants. We therefore sought to utilize the developed S/O nanodispersion for the delivery of the tyrosine-related protein 2 peptide, TRP-2_180-188, as a peptide antigen against melanoma. Transcutaneous vaccination of the S/O nanodispersion coloaded with adjuvant R-848 was associated with a significant inhibition of melanoma growth and suppression of lung metastasis in tumor-bearing mice. Our findings indicate the potential of S/O nanodispersions as an endogenous peptide carrier for cancer vaccines.