Pulsed focused ultrasound alters the proteomic profile of the tumor microenvironment in a syngeneic mouse model of glioblastoma.

Purpose: Glioblastoma (GBM), a lethal primary adult malignancy, is difficult to treat because of the restrictive nature of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), blood-tumor barrier (BTB), and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Since pulsed focused ultrasound (pFUS) is currently used to improve therapeutic deliveries across these barriers, this study aims to characterize the impact of pFUS on the TME proteomics upon opening the BBB and BTB.

Methods: We utilized MRI-guided, pFUS with ultrasound contrast microbubbles (termed 'pFUS' herein) to selectively and transiently open the BBB and BTB investigating proteomic modifications in the TME. Utilizing an orthotopically-allografted mouse GL26 GBM model (Ccr2RFP/wt - Cx3cr1GFP/wt), pFUS's effect on glioma proteomics was evaluated using a Luminex 48-plex assay.

Results: pFUS treated tumors exhibited increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and trophic factors (CCTFs). Proteomic changes in tumors tend to peak at 24 h after single pFUS session (1x), with levels then plateauing or declining over the subsequent 24 h. Tumors receiving three pFUS sessions (3x) showed elevated CCTFs levels peaking as early as 6 h after the third session.

Conclusions: pFUS together with microbubbles induces a sterile inflammatory response in the TME of a mouse GBM tumor. Moreover, this proinflammatory shift can be sustained and perhaps primed for more rapid responses upon multiple sessions of pFUS. These findings raise the intriguing potential that pFUS-induced BBB and BTB opening may not only be effective in facilitating the therapeutic agent delivery, but also be harnessed to modify the TME to assist immunotherapies in overcoming immune evasion in GBM.