Promising alternatives of CD47 monoclonal antibody: an injectable degradable hydrogel loaded with PQ912 for postoperative immunotherapy effectively blocks CD47-SIRPα signal

Rationale: Many cancers have evolved different mechanisms to evade immune surveillance. Macrophages, the innate defense of the immune system, are limited in their phagocytosis by CD47 anti-phagocytic signaling expressed on the surface of tumor cells. Although the CD47 monoclonal antibody (aCD47) strategy has been extensively studied in clinical trials, the depletion of aCD47 by red blood cells (RBCs) and the resulting hematotoxicity have impeded their application in tumor treatment. Methods: Here, we reported an injectable hydrogel scaffold that allowed for local delivery of small-molecule inhibitor PQ912. The biodegradable hydrogel scaffold (PQ/PB-Gel) was formed by rapid cross-linking of tetra-armed PEG succinimidyl succinate (Tetra-PEG-SS) solution and alkalescent bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution through ammonolysis reaction. Results: PQ/PB-Gel had excellent effect on inhibiting local recurrence of two kinds of tumors. The hydrogel system inhibited the generation of “don't eat me” signals during the treatment cycle by inhibiting the expression of newly generated neoplastic CD47. Thus, it avoided adverse reactions such as erythrocytopenia after the use of aCD47 in terms of safety. After the “don't eat me” signal was blocked the clearance and recognition of cancer cells by macrophages and antigen-presenting cells were enhanced, sequentially systemic immune response was activated and further memory T lymphocyte (T cell) formation was induced. Conclusions: PQ/PB-Gel had a simple preparation and administration method, low production cost, excellent efficacy and low toxicity, so it had good practicability. This might provide a safe alternative strategy for aCD47 for inhibit local tumor recurrence and distal metastasis in postoperative immunotherapy.