Immunogenic cell death (ICD), as an unusual cell death pattern, mediates
cancer cells to release a series of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), and is widely used in the field of
cancer immunotherapy. Injuring the cell membrane can serve as a novel ICD initiation strategy. In this study, a
peptide nanomedicine (
PNpC) is designed using the fragment CM11 of
cecropin, which is effective in disrupting cell membranes because of its α-helical structure.
PNpC self-assembles in situ in the presence of high levels of
alkaline phosphatase (ALP) on the
tumor cell membrane, transforming from nanoparticles to nanofibers, which reduces the cellular internalization of the nanomedicine and increases the interaction between CM11 and
tumor cell membranes. Both in vitro and in vivo results indicate that
PNpC plays a significant role in killing
tumor cells by triggering ICD. The ICD induced by the destruction of the
cancer cell membrane is accompanied by the release of DAMPs, which promotes the maturation of DCs and facilitates the presentation of
tumor-associated
antigens (TAA), resulting in the infiltration of CD8+ T cells. We believe that
PNpC can trigger ICD while killing
cancer cells, providing a new reference for
cancer immunotherapy.