Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Abstract Cuproptosis is a newly discovered copper ion‐dependent programmed cell death. Elesclomol (ES) is a Cu2+ transporter that delivers Cu2+ into tumor cells, causing cell death at toxic doses. However, ES has a short blood half‐life, limiting its accumulation in tumors. This study introduces Tus...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Si Gao, Haodong Ge, Lili Gao, Ying Gao, Shuibin Tang, Yiming Li, Zhiqing Yuan, Wei Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-05-01
Series:Advanced Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202417676
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849722733137494016
author Si Gao
Haodong Ge
Lili Gao
Ying Gao
Shuibin Tang
Yiming Li
Zhiqing Yuan
Wei Chen
author_facet Si Gao
Haodong Ge
Lili Gao
Ying Gao
Shuibin Tang
Yiming Li
Zhiqing Yuan
Wei Chen
author_sort Si Gao
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Cuproptosis is a newly discovered copper ion‐dependent programmed cell death. Elesclomol (ES) is a Cu2+ transporter that delivers Cu2+ into tumor cells, causing cell death at toxic doses. However, ES has a short blood half‐life, limiting its accumulation in tumors. This study introduces Tussah silk fibroin nanoparticles (TSF@ES‐Cu NPs) to protect ES and Cu2+. TSF, with a stable structure, resists metabolism in circulation. Targeting tumors with natural RGD peptides and TSF's unique secondary structure, enhances drug enrichment and special release in pancreatic tumors, improving treatment efficacy. In vitro, TSF@ES‐Cu induces tumor cell cuproptosis, releases DAMPs, promotes dendritic cells (DCs) maturation, and macrophage M1 polarization. In vivo, TSF@ES‐Cu reshapes the tumor microenvironment (TME), increasing mature DCs from 22.7% to 43.3%, CD8+ T cells from 5.08% to 17.1%, and reducing M2 macrophages from 50.7% to 18.4%. Additionally, the combined anti‐tumor efficacy of TSF@ES‐Cu and αPDL‐1 is 1.6 times higher than TSF@ES‐Cu alone and 2.5 times higher than αPDL‐1 alone. In summary, this study reports that the combination of TSF@ES‐Cu and αPDL‐1 effectively induces cuproptosis and reshapes the TME, offering a new approach for copper nanomaterial‐based tumor immunotherapy.
format Article
id doaj-art-eb01f3ca71014bd1b76c4a1fa10cfe5b
institution DOAJ
issn 2198-3844
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Advanced Science
spelling doaj-art-eb01f3ca71014bd1b76c4a1fa10cfe5b2025-08-20T03:11:14ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-05-011218n/an/a10.1002/advs.202417676Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer TreatmentSi Gao0Haodong Ge1Lili Gao2Ying Gao3Shuibin Tang4Yiming Li5Zhiqing Yuan6Wei Chen7Department of Biliary‐pancreatic Surgery Renji Hospital Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Shanghai 200127 ChinaDepartment of General Surgery Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Shanghai 200020 ChinaDepartment of Pathology Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Medicine School of Shanghai Jiaotong University Shanghai 200092 ChinaSchool of Stomatology Inner Mongolia Medical University Hohhot Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 010030 ChinaDepartment of Biliary‐pancreatic Surgery Renji Hospital Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Shanghai 200127 ChinaDepartment of Biliary‐pancreatic Surgery Renji Hospital Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Shanghai 200127 ChinaDepartment of Biliary‐pancreatic Surgery Renji Hospital Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Shanghai 200127 ChinaDepartment of Biliary‐pancreatic Surgery Renji Hospital Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Shanghai 200127 ChinaAbstract Cuproptosis is a newly discovered copper ion‐dependent programmed cell death. Elesclomol (ES) is a Cu2+ transporter that delivers Cu2+ into tumor cells, causing cell death at toxic doses. However, ES has a short blood half‐life, limiting its accumulation in tumors. This study introduces Tussah silk fibroin nanoparticles (TSF@ES‐Cu NPs) to protect ES and Cu2+. TSF, with a stable structure, resists metabolism in circulation. Targeting tumors with natural RGD peptides and TSF's unique secondary structure, enhances drug enrichment and special release in pancreatic tumors, improving treatment efficacy. In vitro, TSF@ES‐Cu induces tumor cell cuproptosis, releases DAMPs, promotes dendritic cells (DCs) maturation, and macrophage M1 polarization. In vivo, TSF@ES‐Cu reshapes the tumor microenvironment (TME), increasing mature DCs from 22.7% to 43.3%, CD8+ T cells from 5.08% to 17.1%, and reducing M2 macrophages from 50.7% to 18.4%. Additionally, the combined anti‐tumor efficacy of TSF@ES‐Cu and αPDL‐1 is 1.6 times higher than TSF@ES‐Cu alone and 2.5 times higher than αPDL‐1 alone. In summary, this study reports that the combination of TSF@ES‐Cu and αPDL‐1 effectively induces cuproptosis and reshapes the TME, offering a new approach for copper nanomaterial‐based tumor immunotherapy.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202417676cancer therapycuproptosiselesclomolsilk fibroinαPDL‐1
spellingShingle Si Gao
Haodong Ge
Lili Gao
Ying Gao
Shuibin Tang
Yiming Li
Zhiqing Yuan
Wei Chen
Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Advanced Science
cancer therapy
cuproptosis
elesclomol
silk fibroin
αPDL‐1
title Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
title_full Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
title_fullStr Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
title_full_unstemmed Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
title_short Silk Fibroin Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cuproptosis and Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
title_sort silk fibroin nanoparticles for enhanced cuproptosis and immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer treatment
topic cancer therapy
cuproptosis
elesclomol
silk fibroin
αPDL‐1
url https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202417676
work_keys_str_mv AT sigao silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment
AT haodongge silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment
AT liligao silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment
AT yinggao silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment
AT shuibintang silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment
AT yimingli silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment
AT zhiqingyuan silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment
AT weichen silkfibroinnanoparticlesforenhancedcuproptosisandimmunotherapyinpancreaticcancertreatment