Nanomedicine-mediated macrophage polarization enhances the iron-depleting effect of desferrioxamine for breast cancer immunotherapy

Therapeutic strategies targeting iron metabolism to disturb the physiological functions of tumor cells have emerged as promising avenues in cancer treatment. Deferoxamine (DFOM) is an effective FDA-approved iron chelator that actively eliminates iron from cells, inducing iron-related dysfunction. However, its use is considerably limited by off-target toxicities and the innate metabolic compensatory capacity of tumor cells. To address these challenges, herein, we developed a facile manganese-doped calcium phosphate mineralized nanoparticle loaded with DFOM (termed BSA@MnCaP@DFOM). These nanoparticles polarized tumor-associated macrophages to M1 phenotype via activating Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway, thereby cutting off their iron supply to tumor cells. This promoted the iron depletion effect of DFOM, reduced ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1) expression, disrupted iron metabolism, and efficiently induced mitochondrial dysfunction in the highly iron-dependent 4 T1 breast cancer cells. Consequently, the treatment triggered immunogenic cell death in tumor cells, eliciting a robust antitumor T cells immune response. Combined with mitigation of the immunosuppressive microenvironment, tumor suppression was achieved (72.5 % inhibition rate). In summary, our nanoparticles offer a promising strategy for iron metabolism disruption-mediated breast cancer immunotherapy.