Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of engineered bacteria to assist MWA cancer therapy. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of engineered bacteria to assist MWA cancer therapy.

From: Thermal-responsive activation of engineered bacteria to trigger antitumor immunity post microwave ablation therapy

Fig. 1

The tumor-specific colonization capability of engineered bacteria allows their significant accumulation in tumor tissues, exploiting the immunodeficiency and hypoxia of the tumor microenvironment, which facilitates their proliferation. Under the influence of MWA, a fraction of tumor cells would undergo cell death to release tumor antigens, which are then engulfed by DCs for antigen presentation. Those matured DCs would migrate to the TDLNs, where they educate naïve T cells and promote their differentiation into CD8+ T effector T cells. As a result of sustained antigen stimulation, a subset of these cells would be differentiated into Tpex cells. Meanwhile, activated DCs release CXCL9/10/11, which subsequently recruits these Tpex cells to infiltrate into the TME. Moreover, under the induction of MWA, engineered bacteria release IL-15&IL-15Rα and sPD-1. While IL-15&IL-15Rα plays a crucial role in maintaining the activity of Tpex cells and promoting their cytotoxicity against tumor cells, sPD-1 would reinvigorate Tpex cells, thereby facilitating the continuous process of T cell-specific killing of tumor cells. The figure was created in BioRender. (Yujie (2024) https://BioRender.com/l27u027).

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