Ye, C.Yan, X.Dai, X.Chen, R.Li, Q.Xu, S.Jiang, Q.Yan, F.Xu, S.Zhao, C.X.Zhao, P.Chen, D.Ruan, J.2023-12-132023-12-132023Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023; 474:145766-1-145766-101385-89471873-3212https://hdl.handle.net/2440/140177Available online 1 September 2023Chemotherapy is indispensable for the systematic treatment of aggressive malignancies, such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), while delivery vehicles are essential for improving delivery efficiency and enhancing anti-tumor therapy. Here, we design and synthesize snowman-like tumor-targeting PLA/shellac-FA dimer nanoparticles (NPs), which demonstrate improved delivery efficiency and enhanced anti-tumor therapy. Paclitaxel (PTX) and curcumin (CUR) are co-loaded in PLA/shellac-FA dimer NPs and their delivery performance is optimized by tuning the particle shape to be snowman-like. In vivo tests confirm that PTX + CUR-loaded snowman-like PLA/shellac-FA dimer NPs could effectively reduce the proportion of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in lymphocytes and reshape the M1/M2 polarization into an anti-tumor type. Meanwhile, the dimer NPs could enhance the infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), thus activating the immune response in the tumor microenvironment (TME). The results suggest that snowman-like PLA/shellac-FA dimer NPs with a sharp shape can effectively improve the delivery efficiency and enhance the anti-tumor therapy, being a promising system for clinical applications.en© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Dimer particle; Tumor-targeting; Sustained release; Anti-tumor therapy; Immune activationJournal article10.1016/j.cej.2023.1457662023-12-12656997