Project: NANO-IMMUNOTHERAPY: INTRACELLULAR TARGETING OF CANCER CELLS AND TAMs

Acronym	INTRATARGET (Reference Number: EURONANOMED2017-151)
Project Topic	Improved understanding of tumor cellular heterogeneity and of the dual role of the immune system in the progression of cancer has led to the design of new cancer immunotherapies aimed to target cancer cells as well as immune cells. However, these advanced therapies still have major draw-backs related to their limited access to their cell (cancer cells vs immune cells) and tissue (primary tumor site and metastatic niches) targets, which often result in a poor efficacy/toxicity balance. Moreover, the inability of these therapies (i.e mAb) to cross the cell membrane makes them unsuitable to reach intracellular targets. The objective of the 2-INTRATARGET proposal, is to address these challenges by engineering Multifunctional Polymeric Nanocarriers (MPNs) aimed to deliver: 1) monoclonal antibodies (mAb) into cancer cells, thus targeting intracellular oncoproteins in the tumor or in their metastatic niches and 2) RNA molecules into the Tumor Associated Macrophages (TAM), to re-educate them and switch the tumor-promoting immune suppressive microenvironment to one that kills tumor cells and promotes adaptive immune responses. These potential nanomedicines, administered separately or in a combined form may represent a breakthrough in the advancement of cancer immunotherapy. The consortium is formed by 5 Partners with complementary expertise in the fields of Nanomedicine and Cancer Immunotherapy. Taking advantage of this combined expertise, we have designed a working plan comprising 5 WPs: development and characterization of mAb and RNA-loaded MPNs (WP1); in vitro screening of MPNs candidates, using cancer and immune cells in 2D and 3D models (WP2); in vivo PK/biodistribution studies in murine tumor models (i.e. lung and pancreatic cancer), by LC-MS, intravital and PET/SPECT imaging (WP3); in vivo efficacy and safety studies of the nanomedicine candidates, evaluating not only their antitumoral effect but also their immunomodulatory effects (WP4); and WP5 project management.
Network	EuroNanoMed III
Call	Joint Transnational Call for Proposals (2017) for “European Innovative Research & Technological Development Projects in Nanomedicine”

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain	Coordinator	Spain
2	Humanitas Clinical and Research Center (ICH), Italy	Partner	Italy
3	University of Navarra (UNAV)	Partner	Spain
4	SINTEF Materials and Chemistry	Partner	Norway
5	ILKO Pharmaceuticals	Partner	Türkiye