Surface engineering of macrophages with nucleic acid aptamers for capture of tumor cells

摘要

In this study, we revealed that the surface modification of macrophages with nucleic acid aptamers improved the capture of tumor cells and enhanced their anticancer immune response. Regardless of the tumor cells condition (apoptosis induced or not), the number of tumor cells, captured by surface-modified macrophages, was significantly higher than that of captured by non-treated analogs. Phagocytosis of captured tumor cells, secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, and expression of MHC class I molecules were accelerated in nucleic aptamer-immobilized macrophages when these were in contact with apoptotic tumor cells instead of living tumor cells. We believe that the combination of cell surface engineering and anticancer drug treatment could be a promising strategy for the elimination of tumor cell.