BME MS Thesis Defense - Yuyang Gu

Title: "Poly(1,2-glycerol carbonate) nanoparticles for delivery of anti-PD1/PDL1 antibodies "

Advisory Committee: Mark Grinstaff, PhD - BU BME, Chemistry, MSE (advisor) Wilson Wong, PhD - BU BME (Chair) Arturo Vegas, PhD - BU BME, Chemistry, MSE

Abstract: The efficacy of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cell therapy against solid tumors has been modest due to many drawbacks including the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, insufficient CAR T cell trafficking, low-level proliferation and short-term persistence. Various combinatorial therapies of CAR T cells with additional therapeutics such as immune checkpoint inhibitor and immune-stimulatory cytokines show significant promise in overcoming these challenges. However, the toxicity associated with the systemic administration of these therapeutics limits their applications. Previously, we developed poly(1,2-glycerol carbonate) nanoparticles (PGC NPs) that readily entrap a hydrophobic small molecule drug and deliver it to peritoneal tumors post intraperitoneal injection. Here, we designed PGC NPs capable of loading proteins with high efficiency as a promising platform to deliver checkpoint inhibitors and immune-modulatory cytokines for enhancing the safety and potency of CAR T cells against solid tumors.