Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as a promising carrier system for the delivery of therapeutic payloads in multiple disease models, including cancer. However, effective targeting of EVs to cancerous tissue remains a challenge. Here, it is shown that nonviral transfection of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) can be leveraged to drive targeted release of engineered EVs that can modulate transfer and overexpression of therapeutic anticancer genes in tumor cells and tissue. MDSCs are immature immune cells that exhibit enhanced tropism toward tumor tissue and play a role in modulating tumor progression. Current MDSC research has been mostly focused on mitigating immunosuppression in the tumor niche; however, the tumor homing abilities of these cells present untapped potential to deliver EV therapeutics directly to cancerous tissue. In vivo and ex vivo studies with murine models of breast cancer show that nonviral transfection of MDSCs does not hinder their ability to home to cancerous tissue. Moreover, transfected MDSCs can release engineered EVs and mediate antitumoral responses via paracrine signaling, including decreased invasion/metastatic activity and increased apoptosis/necrosis. Altogether, these findings indicate that MDSCs can be a powerful tool for the deployment of EV-based therapeutics to tumor tissue.