Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B
|
2026, 16(7): 4725-4738
• Original articles •
Dual-pathway induction of pyroptosis via biomineralized-like nanoparticles trigger potent immunotherapy against tumor
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Jiaxing Feng1, Kun Xiong1, Yuan Xue1, Yating Wang1, Xiuhua Wu2, Qing Lin1, Xun Sun1, Huile Gao1, Zhirong Zhang1, Tao Gong1
Affiliations
1 Key Laboratory of Drug-Targeting and Drug Delivery System of the Education Ministry & Sichuan Engineering Laboratory for Plant-Sourced Drug and Sichuan Research Center for Drug Precision Industrial Technology, West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China;
2 NMPA Key Laboratory for Technical Research on Drug Products In Vitro and In Vivo Correlation, Sichuan Institute for Drug Control, Chengdu 611731, China
doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2026.01.034
Outline
Pyroptosis, a highly pro-inflammatory form of immunogenic cell death, holds great promise for cancer treatment. However, its efficacy in cancer cells is often limited due to low efficiency and cellular complex pro-survival mechanisms. In this study, we address this challenge by an integrated nanoplatform simultaneously activating two pathways of pyroptosis. Manganese ions and imidazole serve as a framework to coordinate glucose oxidase (GOx) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) into stable biomineralized-like nanoparticles. We hypothesize that EGCG, as an inhibitor of DNA methyltransferase, may restore the expression of Gasdermin E (GSDME), a crucial component of pyroptosis activated by cleaved caspase-3. Through glucose consumption, GOx triggers both the caspase-1/Gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated and caspase-3/GSDME-mediated pathways of pyroptosis simultaneously, leading to efficient pyroptosis in cancer cells and a robust anti-tumor immune response, accompanied by the upregulated expression of PD-L1. Our results reveal that integrating this strategy with immune checkpoint inhibitors results in a tumor inhibition rate exceeding 80% across several “cold” tumor models, a 20% cure rate in the CT26 unilateral tumor model, and 5/8 distant tumors remaining free of recurrence upon re-challenge. In conclusion, this dual-pathway induction of pyroptosis offers a novel and promising strategy for enhancing cancer immunotherapy.
Cancer immunotherapy
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Pyroptosis
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Starvation therapy
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DNA demethylation
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Immune checkpoint inhibitor
Jiaxing Feng, Kun Xiong, Yuan Xue, Yating Wang, Xiuhua Wu, Qing Lin, Xun Sun, Huile Gao, Zhirong Zhang, Tao Gong.
Dual-pathway induction of pyroptosis via biomineralized-like nanoparticles trigger potent immunotherapy against tumor[J].
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B,
2026
, 16
(7)
: 4725
-4738
.
DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2026.01.034
Year 2026 volume 16 Issue 7
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Article Info
doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2026.01.034
- Receive Date:2025-08-12
- Online Date:2026-09-17