Nanoparticle-Mediated STING Agonist Delivery for Enhanced Cancer Immunotherapy

Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) are located in the endoplasmic reticulum of cells, which have been demonstrated to show considerable potentials to achieve efficient antitumor immunity by inducing various pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, such as type I interferons. A variety of STING agonists have been prepared for STING activation, and many of them have been promoted to preclinical trials or clinical applications for the immunotherapy of cancers. However, the intrinsic disadvantages of the small molecule STING agonists can limit the in vivo application and final therapeutic efficacy due to low bioavailability of targeting tissues. Moreover, a cascade of physiological barriers for in vivo STING activation also limit the accumulation of STING agonists in targeting tissues. Drug delivery systems play an important role to improve the STING activation efficiency. In recent years, a variety of nanoparticle-mediated STING agonist delivery systems have been engineered and exploited to address the challenges related to the in vivo STING activation, including liposomes, polymeric micelles, polymersomes, and so on. In this review article, the progresses concerning STING agonists and related delivery systems in recent years will be summarized and discussed.