title: Functionalized graphene oxide serves as a novel vaccine nano-adjuvant for robust stimulation of cellular immunity.
abstract: Benefiting from their unique physicochemical properties, graphene derivatives have attracted great attention in biomedicine. In this study, we carefully engineered graphene oxide (GO) as a vaccine adjuvant for immunotherapy using urease B (Ure B) as the model antigen. Ure B is a specific antigen for Helicobacter pylori, which is a class I carcinogen for gastric cancer. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and various types of polyethylenimine (PEI) were used as coating polymers. Compared with single-polymer modified GOs (GO-PEG and GO-PEI), certain dual-polymer modified GOs (GO-PEG-PEI) can act as a positive modulator to promote the maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and enhance their cytokine secretion through the activation of multiple toll-like receptor (TLR) pathways while showing low toxicity. Moreover, this GO-PEG-PEI can serve as an antigen carrier to effectively shuttle antigens into DCs. These two advantages enable GO-PEG-PEI to serve as a novel vaccine adjuvant. In the subsequent in vivo experiments, compared with free Ure B and clinically used aluminum-adjuvant-based vaccine (Alum-Ure B), GO-PEG-PEI-Ure B induces stronger cellular immunity via intradermal administration, suggesting promising applications in cancer immunotherapy. Our work not only presents a novel, highly effective GO-based vaccine nano-adjuvant, but also highlights the critical roles of surface chemistry for the rational design of nano-adjuvants.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China. zliu@suda.edu.cn rpeng@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ligeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yinchan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Liangzhu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Zhuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D014510:Urease / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D006108:Graphite; D014510:Urease