Intradermal administration of immune modulating Spherical Nucleic Acids as anti-glioma therapy

Introduction:

The treatment of Glioblastoma (GBM) is challenging due to its infiltrative nature, poor drug penetration across the blood-brain barrier and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Standard treatment of surgery, radiotherapy has seen little progress in 15 years, offering a median survival of 15 months. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) show promise in many cancers but fail in GBM due to its immune-cold TME. Recent evidence highlights the role of meningeal lymphatic vessels (MLVs) in antigen drainage and immune cell trafficking, making them promising targets for GBM immunotherapy.

 

Seunghyun Kim – Research assistant, Washington University in St. Louis; Rachel Jarvis – Lab manager, Washington University in St. Louis; Corey Dussold – Post doctoral associate, Northwestern University; Lisa Hurley – Lab manager, Northwestern University; Serena Tommasini – Post doctoral associate, Neurology, Northwestern University; Chad Mirkin – Professor of Chemistry, Northwestern University., Northwestern University; Alexander Stegh – Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Washington University in St. Louis