Fig. 8
Therapeutic effects of iGel in enhancing antitumor immune response to checkpoint inhibitors in vivo. a Schematic depiction of utilizing a syringeable synthetic immune niche based on iGel that can modulate tumor-induced immunosuppressive TMEs in a spatiotemporal manner, enhance antitumor immune priming and turn checkpoint therapy-non-responding tumors into checkpoint therapy-responding tumors. The therapeutic response was tested in the 4T1 (b–f) and TC1 (g–k) models. b and g Upregulation of PD-1 and PD-L1 expression in recurring tumors after treatment (n = 5 for 4T1 model n = 3 for TC1 model). c and h Treatment schedule for combination with a checkpoint inhibitor. d and i Survival curves for treated and control mice (n = 10). e and j Infiltrating CD8+ T cells (n = 5 for 4T1 model n = 4 for TC1 model), and f and k IFN-γ secretion after combination with checkpoint inhibitors (n = 3). Data are presented as the mean ± SD. P-values were determined by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test. The results are representative of one of two independent experiments. Source data are provided as a Source Data file
