Sodium-ion-responsive injectable supramolecular hydrogel delivers engineered Salmonella for safer and enhanced tumor immunotherapy (IMAGE)
Caption
Graphical abstract. The precursor 1,6-DA is a free-flowing liquid outside the body; on contact with sodium ions it converts to 1,6-DAS and self-assembles into a supramolecular hydrogel, allowing engineered Salmonella — here the VNP-TNF-α nanobody strain — to be loaded before injection and to gel in situ in the peritoneum. The gel then acts through two routes: sustained release of the bacteria, and residual 1,6-DAS bound to the flagellin of released bacteria, which shields the immunogenic surface. Together they attenuate systemic toxicity while dendritic cells are activated and CD8+ T cells recruited, so that tumour colonisation and the anti-TNF-α nanobody can still drive tumour cell death.
Credit
Yu W., Tang W., Zhang T., et al., (2026). Sodium-ion-responsive injectable supramolecular hydrogel delivers engineered Salmonella for safer and enhanced tumor immunotherapy. The Innovation 7(9), 101363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2026.101363
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