A Strategy of On-Demand Immune Activation for Antifungal Treatment Using Near-Infrared Responsive Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles.
Zijuan WangShuyi QuDong GaoQi ShaoChenyao NieChengfen XingPublished in: Nano letters (2022)
Pathogenic fungal infection is a major clinical threat because pathogenic fungi have developed resistant mechanisms to evade the innate immune response, especially interactions with macrophages. Herein, a strategy to activate immune responses of macrophages to fungi based on near-infrared (NIR) responsive conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs-M) is reported for antifungal immunotherapy. Under NIR light irradiation, CPNs-M exposes β-glucan on the surface of fungal conidia by photothermal damage and drug released from CPNs-M. The exposed β-glucan elicits macrophage recognition and subsequently activates calcium-calmodulin (Ca 2+ -CaM) signaling followed by the LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) pathway to kill fungal conidia. Consequently, a remarkable elimination of intracellular fugal conidia and successful treatment of fungal pneumonia are achieved. This remote regulation strategy to restore pathogen-immune cell interaction on demand provides a new insight into combatting intractable intracellular infections.
Keyphrases
- immune response
- photodynamic therapy
- cell wall
- candida albicans
- cancer therapy
- drug release
- dendritic cells
- fluorescence imaging
- adipose tissue
- oxidative stress
- mass spectrometry
- acute respiratory distress syndrome
- simultaneous determination
- adverse drug
- intensive care unit
- extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- walled carbon nanotubes