Recently, the research team led by Associate Professor Jin Cao at our institution published a paper titled “Synergetic Sonodynamic-Immunotherapy Based on Phycocyanin Nanoparticles (PCNP) Reduces Tumor Growth and Metastasis in Mice” in the top-tier journal Chemical Engineering Journal (Q1, Chinese Academy of Sciences). The article can be accessed via the following link：https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.155021。

he clinical approaches to cancer treatment exhibit numerous limitations, highlighting the urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies aimed at effectively eliminating primary tumor cells and preventing metastasis and recurrence. The combination of immunotherapy with sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has emerged as a promising and potentially transformative anti-tumor strategy. In prior studies, the research team led by Associate Professor Jin Cao demonstrated that phycocyanin nanoparticles (PCNP) can function in dual capacities, acting as both "nano-sonosensitizers" and "drug nanocarriers." This study investigates the use of the PCNP system for delivering the immune adjuvant R837(hy), thereby enabling the PCNP-R837(hy) nanoparticles to simultaneously act as both sonosensitizers and immunomodulatory adjuvant delivery carriers. PCNP-mediated sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has been shown to induce immunogenic cell death in tumor cells, thereby releasing tumor-associated antigens. Additionally, the co-delivery of R837(hy) enhances dendritic cell maturation, initiating a potent anti-tumor immune response. The integration of this strategy with cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) checkpoint blockade leads to a substantial reduction in tumor growth and metastasis in murine models. The PCNP-R837(hy) system effectively facilitates the development of a synergistic sonodynamic-immunotherapy approach, offering a novel strategy for the treatment and prevention of cancer recurrence.

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 82003649). Associate Professor Jin Cao serves as the first author, with Professor Song Shen from our institution as the corresponding author. The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Jiangsu University is the sole institution associated with both the first and corresponding authors.