CXCL10-coronated thermosensitive “stealth” liposomes for sequential chemoimmunotherapy in melanoma

The interplay of liposome-protein corona hinders the clinical application of liposomes due to active macrophage sequestration and rapid plasma clearance. Here we showed that, CXCL10 as a therapeutic protein was coronated the thermosensitive liposomes to form stealth-like nanocarriers (CXCL10/TSLs). Decoration of the corona layer of CXCL10/TSLs by hyaluronic acid conjugated oridonin (ORD/CXCL10/TSLs), overcame the “fluid barrier” built by biological proteins, drastically reduced capture by leukocytes in whole blood, allowed the specific targeting of tumor sites. Multifunctional medicine ORD/CXCL10/TSLs with hyperthermia drove the sustained cytokine-CXCL10 inflammatory loop to switch macrophage phenotype to M1-like, expand tumor-infiltrating natural killer cells and induce intratumoral levels of interferon-γ. Oridonin synergized with CXCL10 during ORD/CXCL10/TSLs treatment, downregulated PI3K/AKT and Raf/MEK signaling for M1-like polarization and migration inhibition. Furthermore, ORD/CXCL10/TSLs potently synergized with anti-PD-L1 antibody in mice bearing metastatic melanoma, induced sustained immunological memory and controlled metastatic spread.