Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaNov 3, 2025

Smart Nanovaccine for Treating HPV-Related Cancers

Updated Jan 1, 2026

Abstract

A stimuli-responsive STING nanovaccine measuring 25 to 30 nm in diameter demonstrated enhanced antitumor immunity with reduced systemic toxicity.

The nanovaccine combines a STING-activating polymer with HPV16 E7 protein as an antigen.
It is designed to respond to acidic pH and specific enzymes to improve immune activation.
Intravenous administration resulted in effective delivery of E7 protein and STING agonists to immune cells in tumors.
Uptake of the polymer by dendritic cells and macrophages led to increased expression of an enzyme that activates the STING pathway.
This approach resulted in the production of HPV-specific T cells and a strong antitumor response in advanced cancer models.
The design aims to achieve tumor regression while minimizing systemic toxicity.

Simplified

In recent years, therapeutic cancer vaccines have been extensively investigated, aiming to boost cancer-specific T cells crucial for antitumor activity. The effectiveness of these vaccines is often limited by insufficient immune activation and suboptimal antigen delivery. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an important immune signaling protein that activates host defense genes against infection and cancer. Clinical evaluation of small-molecule STING agonists has shown tepid antitumor responses with immune-related toxicities, particularly when they are administered systemically. To overcome these limitations, we report a stimuli-responsive STING nanovaccine for treating human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced cancers. The nanovaccine consists of di-amidobenzimidazoles (diABZI) conjugated to a STING-activating polymer, PSC7A, through an azobenzene linker as an adjuvant, and HPV16 E7 protein as an antigen. The nanovaccine is responsive to acidic pH and NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), which enhances antitumor immunity with reduced systemic toxicity. Upon intravenous injection, the STING nanovaccine (25 to 30 nm in diameter) achieved efficient codelivery of E7 protein and STING agonists to the myeloid cell populations in the secondary lymphoid organs and tumors. Interestingly, PSC7A uptake induces NQO1 expression in dendritic cells and macrophages for accelerated diABZI cleavage and STING activation. This results in efficient production of E7-specific CD8T cells and robust antitumor response in late-stage TC-1 and metastatic MLM3 tumor models. This study illustrates a systemic STING nanovaccine design that allowed not only tumor regression but also markedly reduced systemic toxicity for innate activation to achieve cancer-specific T cell immunity. +

Funding

Competing interests

Competing interests statement:J.G. and B.D.S. are co-founders, scientific advisory board members, stockholders and royalty recipients of OncoNano Medicine, Inc. G.H. is a scientific advisor and royalty recipient of OncoNano Medicine, Inc. A patent application related to the technology described in this manuscript has been filed (Application No. UTSD.P4360US.P1/1001313831).

PubMed

Abstract

Funding

Competing interests

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