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Genetically programmed engineered nanodevices trigger cascade reinforcement between AMPK and cGAS-STING activation
Yijia Zhang1, Mengli Ma2, Li Lin1
1Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Xiang'an Hospital of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361000, China.
None:
Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has shown clinical promise in cancer immunotherapy, but colorectal cancer (CRC) remains difficult to treat due to a complex immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). This TME features dysregulated CD47/SIRPα and PD-1/PD-L1 pathways, T cell exhaustion, and infiltration of immunosuppressive cells. Therefore, novel strategies to reshape TME are critically needed. Here we developed bioinspired nanodevices (SPCM@DMgTi-ADM) for CRC immunotherapy. These nanodevices consist of dendritic titanium-magnesium nanoparticles (DMgTi) that serve as both a sonosensitizer and a carrier for aldometanib (ADM). The nanoparticles are coated with genetically engineered membranes displaying SIRPα and PD-1 decoy receptors (SPCM). This design achieves cascade reinforcement between AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation and cGAS-STING activation. The SPCM coating simultaneously blocks SIRPα/CD47 and PD-1/PD-L1 axes, preliminarily reshaping the TME. Released Mg2+ induces conformational changes in LFA-1 on CD8+ T cells, promoting their tumor infiltration and cytotoxic function. ADM together with sonodynamic therapy (SDT) induces AMPK activation, which drives autophagy-dependent ferroptosis. This synergistic process triggers strong Immunogenic cell death (ICD). The released dsDNA potently activates the cGAS-STING, which in turn inhibits GPX4 and sustains ferroptotic stress. This creates a self-amplifying loop: ferroptosis promotes dsDNA release, which activates cGAS-STING; STING then suppresses GPX4, worsens ferroptosis and further boosting anti-tumor immunity. Both in vitro and in vivo studies confirm that our nanodevice effectively evaluates tumors and activates systemic anti-tumor immunity, offering a clinically translatable strategy for precision CRC therapy.
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