Iron oxide nanoparticles inhibit tumour growth by inducing pro-inflammatory macrophage polarization in tumour tissues

Saeid Zanganeh, Gregor Hutter, Ryan Spitler, Olga Lenkov, Morteza Mahmoudi, Aubie Shaw, Jukka Sakari Pajarinen, Hossein Nejadnik, Stuart Goodman, Michael Moseley, Lisa Marie Coussens, Heike Elisabeth Daldrup-Link

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1168 Scopus citations

Abstract

Until now, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved iron supplement ferumoxytol and other iron oxide nanoparticles have been used for treating iron deficiency, as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and as drug carriers. Here, we show an intrinsic therapeutic effect of ferumoxytol on the growth of early mammary cancers, and lung cancer metastases in liver and lungs. In vitro, adenocarcinoma cells co-incubated with ferumoxytol and macrophages showed increased caspase-3 activity. Macrophages exposed to ferumoxytol displayed increased mRNA associated with pro-inflammatory Th1-type responses. In vivo, ferumoxytol significantly inhibited growth of subcutaneous adenocarcinomas in mice. In addition, intravenous ferumoxytol treatment before intravenous tumour cell challenge prevented development of liver metastasis. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and histopathology studies showed that the observed tumour growth inhibition was accompanied by increased presence of pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages in the tumour tissues. Our results suggest that ferumoxytol could be applied â € off label' to protect the liver from metastatic seeds and potentiate macrophage-modulating cancer immunotherapies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)986-994
Number of pages9
JournalNature nanotechnology
Volume11
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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