Université de Fribourg

Polymer-coated gold nanospheres do not impair the innate immune function of human b lymphocytes in vitro

Hočevar, Sandra ; Milošević, Ana ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Ackermann-Hirschi, Liliane ; Mottas, Inès ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Bourquin, Carole ; Clift, Martin James David

In: ACS Nano, 2019, vol. 13, no. 6, p. 6790–6800

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are intended for use within a variety of biomedical applications due to their physicochemical properties. Although, in general, biocompatibility of GNPs with immune cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells is well established, the impact of GNPs on B lymphocyte immune function remains to be determined. Since B lymphocytes play an important role in health and...

Université de Fribourg

Development of resiquimod-loaded modified PLA-based nanoparticles for cancer immunotherapy: A kinetic study

Thauvin, Cédric ; Widmer, Jérôme ; Mottas, Inès ; Hocevar, Sandra ; Allémann, Eric ; Bourquin, Carole ; Delie, Florence

In: European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2019, vol. 139, p. 253–261

Resiquimod (R848), a member of the imidazoquinoline family, is a Toll-like receptor 7/8 agonist with high potency for cancer immunotherapy. However, tolerance induction and adverse effects limit its development as a drug. Encapsulation in a polymer matrix can circumvent these limitations, as shown in our formerly published approach where R848 was loaded into polylactic acid (PLA)-based...

Université de Fribourg

Amphiphilic nanoparticle delivery enhances the anticancer efficacy of a TLR7 ligand via local immune activation

Mottas, Inès ; Bekdemir, Ahmet ; Cereghetti, Alessandra ; Spagnuolo, Lorenzo ; Yang, Yu-Sang Sabrina ; Müller, Marie ; J.Irvine, Darrell ; Stellaccic, Francesco ; Bourquin, Carole

In: Biomaterials, 2019, vol. 190–191, p. 111–120

Although immunotherapy shows great promise for the long-term control of cancer, many tumors still fail to respond to treatment. To improve the outcome, the delivery of immunostimulants to the lymph nodes draining the tumor, where the antitumor immune response is initiated, is key. Efforts to use nanoparticles as carriers for cancer immunotherapy have generally required targeting agents and...

Université de Fribourg

Engineered hybrid spider silk particles as delivery system for peptide vaccines

Lucke, Matthias ; Mottas, Inès ; Herbst, Tina ; Hotz, Christian ; Römer, Lin ; Schierling, Martina ; M.Herold, Heike ; Slotta, Ute ; Spinetti, Thibaud ; Scheibel, Thomas ; Winter, Gerhard ; Bourquin, Carole ; Engert, Julia

In: Biomaterials, 2018, vol. 172, p. 105–115

The generation of strong T-cell immunity is one of the main challenges for the development of successful vaccines against cancer and major infectious diseases. Here we have engineered spider silk particles as delivery system for a peptide-based vaccination that leads to effective priming of cytotoxic T-cells. The recombinant spider silk protein eADF4(C16) was fused to the antigenic peptide...

Université de Fribourg

Antimicrobial silver-filled silica nanorattles with low immunotoxicity in dendritic cells

Priebe, Magdalena ; Widmer, Jérôme ; Löwa, Nina Suhartha ; Abram, Sarah-Luise ; Mottas, Inès ; Woischnig, Anne-Kathrin ; Brunetto, Priscilla S. ; Khanna, Nina ; Bourquin, Carole ; Fromm, Katharina M.

In: Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, 2017, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 11–22

The progression in the use of orthopedic implants has led to an increase in the absolute number of implant infections, triggering a search for more effective antibacterial coatings. Nanorattles have recently gained interest in biomedical applications such as drug delivery, as encapsulation of the cargo inside the hollow structure provides a physical protection from the surrounding...

Université de Fribourg

A rapid screening method to evaluate the impact of nanoparticles on macrophages

Mottas, Inès ; Milosevic, Ana ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Bourquin, Carole

In: Nanoscale, 2017, vol. 9, no. 7, p. 2492–2504

Nanotechnology is an emerging and highly promising field to develop new approaches for biomedical applications. There is however at present an unmet need for a rapid and universal method to screen nanoparticles (NP) for immunocompatibility at early stages of their development. Indeed, although many types of highly diverse NP are currently under investigation, their interaction with immune...

Université de Fribourg

TLR7-based cancer immunotherapy decreases intratumoral myeloid-derived suppressor cells and blocks their immunosuppressive function

Spinetti, Thibaud ; Spagnuolo, Lorenzo ; Mottas, Inès ; Secondini, Chiara ; Treinies, Marina ; Rüegg, Curzio ; Hotz, Christian ; Bourquin, Carole

In: OncoImmunology, 2016, vol. 5, no. 11, p. e1230578

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a heterogeneous population of immature myeloid cells with the capacity to inhibit immunological responses. During cancer progression, MDSC are recruited to the tumor sites and secondary lymphoid organs, leading to the suppression of the antitumor function of NK and T cells. Here, we show that the TLR7/8 agonist resiquimod (R848) has a direct effect...

Université de Fribourg

Reprogramming of TLR7 signaling enhances antitumor NK and cytotoxic T cell responses

Hotz, Christian ; Treinies, Marina ; Mottas, Inès ; Rötzer, Laurin C. ; Oberson, Anne ; Spagnuolo, Lorenzo ; Perdicchio, Maurizio ; Spinetti, Thibaud ; Herbst, Tina ; Bourquin, Carole

In: OncoImmunology, 2016, vol. 5, no. 11, p. e1232219

Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 agonists are effective in topical application for the immunotherapy of skin cancers, but their performance for the systemic treatment of solid tumors is limited by the development of TLR tolerance. In this study, we describe a novel strategy to overcome TLR tolerance and enhance TLR7-dependent antitumor immune responses through reprogramming of TLR signaling...