Bacteria-Derived Nanobody-Decorated Nanoplatform Restores T Cell Immunity Post-Radiotherapy
T cell exhaustion within the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) impairs the efficacy of radioimmunotherapy. Here, we demonstrate that X-ray radiotherapy induces arginine metabolic dysregulation and PD-L1 upregulation in the tumor microenvironment (TME), suppressing T cell metabolism and driving the expansion of PD-1<sup>+</sup>TIM-3<sup>+</sup> exhausted T cells, thereby promoting immunosuppression. To address this, we design a biomimetic hybrid immunomodulator (arg/B<sup>nb</sup>-L) by engineering BL-21 bacterial membranes to display PD-L1 nanobodies and fusing them with l-arginine-loaded liposomes. This nanoplatform simultaneously blocks PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint signaling and restores T cell metabolic activity while promoting dendritic cell maturation. In murine tumor models, arg/B<sup>nb</sup>-L combined with radiotherapy significantly enhances CD8<sup>+</sup> T cell infiltration, reduces exhausted T cell populations, maintains cytotoxic T lymphocyte function, and inhibits tumor progression and metastasis. Our study elucidates a dual mechanism underlying radiotherapy-induced immunosuppression and offers a promising strategy to enhance radioimmunotherapy outcomes through targeted metabolic and immunologic reprogramming.
Authors
- Zetong Chen
- Xiangming Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2308-8143)
- Jinzhou Cai
- Siqi Ma
- Rui Qian
- Yu Zhang
- Kai Yang
Institutions
- Anhui Medical University (CN)
- National Institute for Radiological Protection (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Nano
- Published
- 2026-02-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6c00839
- Primary Topic
- Cancer Research and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00