UC San Diego

Although enzymes of nonhuman origin have been studied for a variety of therapeutic and diagnostic applications, their use has been limited by the immune responses generated against them. The described dual-porosity hollow nanoparticle platform obviates immune attack on nonhuman enzymes paving the way to in vivo applications including enzyme-prodrug therapies and enzymatic depletion of tumor nutrients. This platform is manufactured with a versatile, scalable, and robust fabrication method. It efficiently encapsulates macromolecular cargos filled through mesopores into a hollow interior, shielding them from antibodies and proteases once the mesopores are sealed with nanoporous material. The nanoporous shell allows small molecule diffusion allowing interaction with the large macromolecular payload in the hollow center. The approach has been validated in vivo using l-asparaginase to achieve l-asparagine depletion in the presence of neutralizing antibodies.