Biomimetic vesicles engineered from modified tumour cells act as personalized vaccines for post-surgical cancer immunotherapy
Surgical resection remains the primary treatment for most solid tumours, yet metastatic tumour cells remaining after surgery substantially contribute to cancer-related mortality and recurrence. Here we identify syntaxin 11 as a key regulator that enhances the expression of MHC I and co-stimulatory molecules CD80/CD86 on tumour cell membranes, enabling cancer cells to acquire dendritic-cell-like features. By overexpressing syntaxin 11 in autologous tumour cells obtained from surgical resections, we generated MHC I<sup>high</sup>/CD80<sup>high</sup>/CD86<sup>high</sup> dendritic-cell-like cells. Utilizing the cell membranes of these modified cells, we engineered artificial dendritic-cell-like cell-derived vesicles as a personalized autologous nanovaccine for the immunotherapy of postoperative metastatic cancer. This nanovaccine substantially improves antigen delivery to lymphoid organs and enhances antigen presentation efficiency through tumour self-presentation, thereby disrupting traditional vaccine development paradigms. Our work provides a promising avenue for developing effective metastatic cancer immunotherapies and offers hope for personalized postoperative immunotherapy.
Authors
- C. Zhang
- Xiong Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2570-5655)
- Jun Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3339-5566)
- Zhiwei Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9931-2789)
- Lei Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9498-5928)
- Meng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5526-1029)
- Yong Yin
- Pei Yu
- Lulu Meng
- Lingyi Kong
- Zhiqiang Shi
Institutions
- China Pharmaceutical University (CN)
- Ministry of Education (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Nanotechnology
- Published
- 2026-01-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-02113-w
- Primary Topic
- Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Pharmaceutical University
- Lishui University
- State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines
- National Science and Technology Major Project
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities