Polymer nanoparticles for immunotherapy from encapsulated tumor-associated antigens and whole tumor cells

Encapsulation of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) in polymer nanoparticles is a promising approach to increasing the efficiency of antigen (Ag) delivery for antitumor vaccines. We optimized a polymer preparation method to deliver both defined tumor-associated proteins and the complex mixtures of tumor Ags present in tumors. Tumor Ags were encapsulated in a biodegradable, 50:50 poly(D,L-lactide co-glycolide) copolymer (PLGA) by emulsification and solvent extraction. Two particular Ags were studied, gp100 (a melanoma-associated antigen) and ovalbumin (OVA), as well as mixtures of proteins and lysates of tumor cells. The efficiency of encapsulation was measured by protein assays of dissolved nanoparticles. Ag stability after release from nanoparticles was verified by SDS-acrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. Molecular weight and protein loading interact to define the encapsulation efficiency and release rate of nanoparticles formulated from 50:50 PLGA. A midrange molecular weight polymer had more desirable release properties at 100 mg/mL than at 50 mg/mL protein loading, indicating the need for optimization of nanoparticle formulation for preparations with different particle loadings. Mixtures of proteins derived from cell lysates were reliably encapsulated into nanoparticles, which released the spectrum of proteins contained in lysates. Antigenic proteins were co-encapsulated with cell lysate and released from nanoparticles; these Ags retained their antigenicity and functioned better than soluble Ags when tested in in vitro assays of T cell cytokine formation and in vivo tumor vaccination challenge.