Evaluation of mRNA-loaded micro bubbles for ultrasound-guided cancer vaccination

DCs, the professional antigen-presenting cells of our immune system, induce CTL responses against TAAs. Consequently, there has been interest in their application as anti-tumor vaccines. The GRGN is involved in research on ultrasound triggered drug delivery. They developed the concept of ultrasound-triggered delivery of mRNA by mRNA-loaded microbubbles. On the other hand, the LMCT has a longstanding expertise in mRNA modification of DCs. They developed an mRNA cocktail (TriMix) consisting of mRNA encoding CD70, CD40L and caTLR4 to induce DC maturation and enhance T-cell stimulation. In this study, we will combine the expertise of the GRGN and LMCT to evaluate the use of mRNA-loaded microbubbles and ultrasound to modify DCs (with and w/o TriMix mRNA) ex vivo as well as in situ (intranodally) to boost anti-tumor immunity.