Therapeutic Effect of Macrophage-Derived Biomimetic Nanoparticles for Cytokine Release Syndrome

Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is a severe complication of infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that cause serious damage to public health. Currently, no effective therapeutic strategy exists for CRS treatment in clinic, and supportive therapy is still the main method. Here, we show the potential of macrophage membrane-biomimetic nanoparticles for CRS treatment. By fusing macrophage membrane on the surface of the PLGA skeleton, we constructed biomimetic nanoparticles that inherited the membrane receptors from the parental macrophages, enabling the neutralization of CRS-related cytokines. We compared three types of macrophage membranes to screen out more effective biomimetic nanoparticles for CRS treatment. Our results show that biomimetic nanoparticles containing M0 macrophage membrane can decrease the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in CRS to the greatest extent. In a mouse model of RNA virus analog-induced CRS, the macrophage membrane-biomimetic nanoparticles manifested significant therapeutic efficacy by reducing cytokine levels and alleviating organ damage. Funding Information: This work was supported by Scientific Research Project of Tongji University (22120200021), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82073385 and 81803078), Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (20DZ2255200 and 21140901900). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: All animal studies were approved under the guidelines of Tongji University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.