Engineering Macrophages for Cancer Immunotherapy and Drug Delivery

Macrophages play an important role in cancer development and metastasis. Proinflammatory M1 macrophages can phagocytose tumor cells, while anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages such as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) promote tumor growth and invasion. Modulating the tumor immune microenvironment through engineering macrophages is efficacious in tumor therapy. M1 macrophages target cancerous cells and, therefore, can be used as drug carriers for tumor therapy. Herein, the strategies to engineer macrophages for cancer immunotherapy, such as inhibition of macrophage recruitment, depletion of TAMs, reprograming of TAMs, and blocking of the CD47-SIRPα pathway, are discussed. Further, the recent advances in drug…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 21804104, 81227901, 81671753, 91959124
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Awards: 2017YFA0205200, 2017YFC1309100
• FR
  Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

  Awards: JB191211, JB191208, JB191207
• NI
  National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering