Two-pronged nanomedicine enhances immunotherapy by remodeling tumor metabolism

• Met-BsAb enhances intratumoral metformin delivery and immune checkpoint blockade. • This nanomedicine reprograms tumor metabolism and reverses immunosuppression. • Met-BsAb demonstrates potent anti-tumor efficacy and inhibits recurrence. • The strategy significantly prolongs survival in an H22 tumor model. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy remains hindered by low response rates, largely due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and dysregulated tumor metabolism that jointly impair anti-tumor immunity. To address this key bottleneck, we rationally designed a dual-functional bispecific antibody nanomedicine (Met-BsAb) by loading metformin into Fc-binding peptide-grafted poly(L-glutamic acid) nanoparticles and conjugating anti-PD1/anti-LAG-3 antibodies. This material design enables targeted delivery of metformin to tumors and synchronous blockade of dual immune checkpoints. In a mouse H22 tumor model, Met-BsAb significantly enhanced intratumoral drug accumulation and penetration. Mechanistically, Met-BsAb remodeled the immunosuppressive TME by activating CD8 + T cells and reducing myeloid-derived suppressor cell infiltration, while reprogramming tumor metabolism via activation of the AMPK pathway and inhibition of the mTOR pathway. These coordinated effects synergistically boosted anti-tumor immunotherapy, induced long-term immune memory, and effectively suppressed tumor recurrence. This study provides a novel material-based strategy for synergistic immunometabolic regulation, offering a promising candidate to overcome ICI resistance in cancer treatment.

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Publication Details

Journal
Materials & Design
Published
2026-04-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2026.116119
Primary Topic
Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Two-pronged nanomedicine enhances immunotherapy by remodeling tumor metabolism

Yunpeng Shi, Xitong Ren, Huicong Zhou, Jianshi Du et al.
Materials & Design
Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
article

Two-pronged nanomedicine enhances immunotherapy by remodeling tumor metabolism

Yunpeng Shi, Xitong Ren, Huicong Zhou, Jianshi Du, Jiali Sun, Hongyu Liu, Daji Yang, Haochen Yao
article en

Abstract

• Met-BsAb enhances intratumoral metformin delivery and immune checkpoint blockade. • This nanomedicine reprograms tumor metabolism and reverses immunosuppression. • Met-BsAb demonstrates potent anti-tumor efficacy and inhibits recurrence. • The strategy significantly prolongs survival in an H22 tumor model. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy remains hindered by low response rates, largely due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and dysregulated tumor metabolism that jointly impair anti-tumor immunity. To address this key bottleneck, we rationally designed a dual-functional bispecific antibody nanomedicine (Met-BsAb) by loading metformin into Fc-binding peptide-grafted poly(L-glutamic acid) nanoparticles and conjugating anti-PD1/anti-LAG-3 antibodies. This material design enables targeted delivery of metformin to tumors and synchronous blockade of dual immune checkpoints. In a mouse H22 tumor model, Met-BsAb significantly enhanced intratumoral drug accumulation and penetration. Mechanistically, Met-BsAb remodeled the immunosuppressive TME by activating CD8 + T cells and reducing myeloid-derived suppressor cell infiltration, while reprogramming tumor metabolism via activation of the AMPK pathway and inhibition of the mTOR pathway. These coordinated effects synergistically boosted anti-tumor immunotherapy, induced long-term immune memory, and effectively suppressed tumor recurrence. This study provides a novel material-based strategy for synergistic immunometabolic regulation, offering a promising candidate to overcome ICI resistance in cancer treatment.

Materials & DesignVol. 266
Union Hospital (HK), Peking University (CN), Changchun Institute of Biological Products (CN), State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry (CN), Union Hospital (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Program for Jilin University Science and Technology Innovative Research Team
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 15%
Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
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