Pathogen‐Mimetic Liposomes Customizing Protein Corona for Precision Glioblastoma Therapy

Employing neutrophils (NEs) as endogenous moving gears offers a promising strategy for crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) malignancies such as glioblastoma (GBM). However, in vivo hitchhiking efficiency of NEs is severely limited by spontaneous formation of a nonspecific protein corona. Here, we present pathogen-mimetic liposomes (PM-Lipo) that enable efficient and precise NEs hitchhiking by programming the in vivo protein corona. PM-Lipo is rationally engineered to preferentially enrich complement 3b (C3b) and inactivated C3b (iC3b), thereby recapitulating endogenous complement opsonization and promoting complement receptor 3 (CR3)-mediated recognition by activated NEs. This effect arises from the synergistic integration of two functional lipids that activate distinct complement pathways, triggering a proteolytic cascade with positive feedback to amplify C3b/iC3b deposition. Our results demonstrate that PM-Lipo achieved >85% targeting efficiency toward activated NEs, enabling hitchhiking-mediated transport across the BBB, with 8.94% of the administered PM-Lipo successfully penetrating the brain, leading to marked tumor suppression and more than a twofold extension in median survival. Our research establishes a protein corona programming strategy to harness endogenous immune cells for targeted drug delivery, offering a broadly applicable paradigm for precision nanomedicine in CNS malignancies.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2026-08-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.74780
Primary Topic
Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Pathogen‐Mimetic Liposomes Customizing Protein Corona for Precision Glioblastoma Therapy

Zhanzhan Zhang, Fan Huang, Shao‐Kai Sun, Yang Liu et al.
Advanced Materials
Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
article

Pathogen‐Mimetic Liposomes Customizing Protein Corona for Precision Glioblastoma Therapy

Zhanzhan Zhang, Fan Huang, Shao‐Kai Sun, Yang Liu, Jingyu Zhao, Yong Ke, Xi Chen, Xinyi Cai, Ying Wang, Shuangxiu Li, Yu Zhang
article en

Abstract

Employing neutrophils (NEs) as endogenous moving gears offers a promising strategy for crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) malignancies such as glioblastoma (GBM). However, in vivo hitchhiking efficiency of NEs is severely limited by spontaneous formation of a nonspecific protein corona. Here, we present pathogen-mimetic liposomes (PM-Lipo) that enable efficient and precise NEs hitchhiking by programming the in vivo protein corona. PM-Lipo is rationally engineered to preferentially enrich complement 3b (C3b) and inactivated C3b (iC3b), thereby recapitulating endogenous complement opsonization and promoting complement receptor 3 (CR3)-mediated recognition by activated NEs. This effect arises from the synergistic integration of two functional lipids that activate distinct complement pathways, triggering a proteolytic cascade with positive feedback to amplify C3b/iC3b deposition. Our results demonstrate that PM-Lipo achieved >85% targeting efficiency toward activated NEs, enabling hitchhiking-mediated transport across the BBB, with 8.94% of the administered PM-Lipo successfully penetrating the brain, leading to marked tumor suppression and more than a twofold extension in median survival. Our research establishes a protein corona programming strategy to harness endogenous immune cells for targeted drug delivery, offering a broadly applicable paradigm for precision nanomedicine in CNS malignancies.

Advanced Materials
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN), Nankai University (CN), Tianjin Medical University (CN)
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.