Recombinant spider silk functionalized with a CD40 agonist shows improved capability to activate human B cells in vitro - A novel module for cancer immunotherapyVisa övriga samt affilieringar
2025 (Engelska)Ingår i: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, ISSN 0141-8130, E-ISSN 1879-0003, Vol. 327, artikel-id 147503Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]
This paper presents the generation and evaluation of a novel potential drug delivery platform for biologics, based on recombinant spider silk. Targeting CD40 for activation of antigen presenting cells, in order to overcome tumor induced T cell tolerance, have shown promising results in cell and animal models. However, further trials have gained limited results due to severe side reactions. To overcome this, we have investigated a strategy for a localized CD40 activation. A CD40 agonist based on a single chain variable fragment (scFv<inf>CD40</inf>) was enzymatically coupled to silk structures, that were then used to stimulate cells in vitro. A reporter cell line responsive to CD40 agonists was used to evaluate the bioactivity of the developed scFv<inf>CD40</inf>-silk, and to optimize the method. Once the bioactivity was confirmed, human primary B cells derived from healthy donors were stimulated with the scFv<inf>CD40</inf>-silk construct. The resulting B cell response was characterized both by upregulated surface expression of the activation marker CD86 (3 fold), suggesting an improved antigen-presenting capacity, and by B cell proliferation (4 fold) generating an expanded B cell population. The detected upregulation of the costimulatory molecule CD86 on the B cells implies a potential of the functionalized silk to steer the tumor-specific T cell response from tolerance to immune activation, including the onset of appropriate effector functions. Finally, we investigated the usability of the novel silk format microspheres for CD40-mediated cell activation in vitro. Here, we were able to demonstrate that scFv<inf>CD40</inf>-coupled silk microspheres gave a pronounced activation of the CD40-expressing reporter cell line, supporting the suitability of silk microspheres for the delivery of biologics with immune modulatory purposes.
Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
Elsevier BV , 2025. Vol. 327, artikel-id 147503
Nyckelord [en]
Biologics, CD40 targeting, immune cell modulation, antigen presenting cell, Receptor clustering, Recombinant spider silk protein, single chain variable fragments
Nationell ämneskategori
Immunologi inom det medicinska området Medicinsk bioteknologi (Inriktn. mot cellbiologi (inkl. stamcellsbiologi), molekylärbiologi, mikrobiologi, biokemi eller biofarmaci)
Identifikatorer
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-370080DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.147503ISI: 001568435000003PubMedID: 40921361Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105015093185OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-370080DiVA, id: diva2:1999684
Anmärkning
QC 20250922
2025-09-222025-09-222025-09-22Bibliografiskt granskad