Potent anti-tumor immunostimulatory biocompatible nanohydrogel made from DNA

Unmethylated CpG oligodeoxynucleotides are potent immunostimulatory motifs in activating both innate and acquired immune system by inducing Th1 type antigen-specific T cell responses, but their instability in serum greatly influences their immunostimulant efficiency. Here, we constructed a novel immuno-DNA nanohydrogels consisting of tandem repeat sequences of CpG units named CpG-MCA nanohydrogels through multi-primed chain amplification. CpG-MCA nanohydrogels were proved to resist degradation and increase the proliferation and migration of murine macrophage-like RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, CpG-MCA nanohydrogels effectively induced high expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6, and remarkably inhibited the proliferation of U251 cells, suggesting that CpG-MCA nanohydrogels are expected to be employed as the potent anti-cancer immunostimulant.