Aim: To engineer a novel nanoimmunotherapy comprising Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs) conjugated to antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), which leverages PBNPs for their photothermal therapy (PTT) capabilities and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigen-specific CTL for their ability to traffic to and destroy EBV antigen-expressing target cells.
Materials & methods: PBNPs and CTL were independently biofunctionalized. Subsequently, PBNPs were conjugated onto CTL using avidin-biotin interactions. The resultant cell-nanoparticle construct (CTL:PBNPs) were analyzed for their physical, phenotypic and functional properties.
Results: Both PBNPs and CTL maintained their intrinsic physical, phenotypic and functional properties within the CTL:PBNPs.
Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of our CTL:PBNPs nanoimmunotherapy as a novel therapeutic for treating virus-associated malignancies such as EBV+ cancers.
Keywords: Prussian blue nanoparticles; antigen-specific T cells; cell nanoparticle construct; cytotoxic T lymphocyte; immunotherapy; nanoimmunotherapy; photothermal therapy.