Genetically engineered nano-melittin vesicles for multimodal synergetic cancer therapy. (PubMed, Bioeng Transl Med)
VAM generated from the cellular plasma membrane was bio-synthetically fabricated, with the recombinant protein (hGC33 scFv-melittin) being harbored and displayed on the cell membrane...Nanomelittin formed pores in membranes and disturbed phospholipid bilayers, which allowed the anticancer agents (i.e., chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin and sonosensitizer purpurin 18 nanoparticles) co-delivered by VAM to penetrate deeper tumor sites, leading to synergistic therapeutic effects. In particular, the punching effect generated by sonodynamic therapy further improved the immunomodulatory effect of nanomelittin to activate the immune response. Taken together, our findings indicate that clinically translatable VAM-based strategies represent a universal, promising approach to multimodal synergetic cancer therapy.