Sci. Adv.: An immunotherapeutic artificial vitreous body hydrogel to control choroidal melanoma and preserve vision after vitrectomy

Title：

An immunotherapeutic artificial vitreous body hydrogel to control choroidal melanoma and preserve vision after vitrectomy

Authors：

Muchao Chen^1#, Jiaying Hu^1#, Huiqin Gao^2,3, Jingjing Shen¹, Ting Wei¹, Jing Yao⁴, Yan Zhang⁵, Ping Gu^2,3, Zhuang Liu¹, Qian Chen¹*

Institutions：

¹Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, 199 Ren’ai Road, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu P.R. China.

²Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200011, P.R. China.

³Shanghai Key Laboratory of Orbital Diseases and Ocular Oncology, Shanghai 200011, P.R. China.

⁴Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, Eye & ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, 83 Fenyang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.

⁵Department of orthopedics, Shanghai Yangpu Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, Shanghai 200090, China.

Abstract：

Choroidal melanoma, a common intraocular malignant tumor, relies on local radiotherapy and enucleation for treatment. However, cancer recurrence and visual impairment remain important challenges. Here, a therapeutic artificial vitreous body (AVB) hydrogel based on tetra-armed poly(ethylene glycol) was developed to control the recurrence of choroidal melanoma and preserve vision after vitrectomy. AVB loaded with melphalan (Mel) and anti–programmed cell death ligand-1 (αPDL1), was injected after surgical resection in the choroidal melanoma mouse model. Afterwards, the sequentially released Mel and αPDL1 from AVB could achieve a synergistic antitumor effect to inhibit tumor recurrence. AVB with similar physical properties to native vitreous body could maintain the normal structure and visual function of eye after vitrectomy, which has been evidenced by standard examinations of ophthalmology in the mouse model. Thus, the immunotherapeutic AVB may be a promising candidate as an infill biomaterial to assist surgical treatment of intraocular malignant tumors.

IF：

14.957

Link：

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adh1582