Associate Professor Hua Wang at the Cancer Center at Illinois has developed a groundbreaking macroporous hydrogel platform that uses chemokines to actively recruit dendritic cells - the immune system's key antigen-presenting cells - to dramatically improve mRNA-dendritic cell interactions and enhance T-cell activation for stronger antitumor immune responses.
Written by Jackson Brunner
Associate Professor Hua Wang, a member of the Cancer Center at Illinois, has developed a groundbreaking materials-based approach to overcome a critical limitation in mRNA cancer vaccines. While mRNA vaccines have proven successful against infectious diseases, cancer applications face the challenge of extremely low efficiency in getting antigen-encoded mRNAs to the right immune cells. Wang's innovative solution leverages materials science principles through a macroporous hydrogel platform that actively recruits dendritic cells—the immune system's key antigen-presenting cells—rather than relying on passive diffusion.
Associate Professor Hua Wang (left) with Ph.D. student and first author Jiadiao (David) Zhou
The hydrogel system is loaded with chemokines that act as cellular recruitment signals, drawing dendritic cells from throughout the body to the injection site where they encounter and process the therapeutic mRNA. This materials-enabled active recruitment strategy dramatically improves the probability of mRNA-dendritic cell interactions, leading to enhanced T-cell activation and stronger antitumor immune responses in preclinical studies.
"One can imagine that the chance of mRNA vaccines to 'meet' dendritic cells in our strategy is way higher than conventional approaches," Wang explained.
Led by doctoral researcher Jiadiao (David) Zhou as first author, this research demonstrates how advanced materials design can address fundamental biological challenges in cancer immunotherapy. The team is now focused on optimizing the hydrogel material system to achieve even greater T-cell activation and antitumor efficacy, highlighting the critical role of materials science in advancing next-generation cancer treatments.