Neutrophil/Leukemia-Tropic Dual-Drug Nanomedicine Potentiates the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Shujing Yue1,2, Zhenzhen Zhai1,2, Jingnan An3, Huanli Sun(孙欢利)1,2*, Jiaying Li4, Cenzhu Zhao3, Yang Xu3, Zhiyuan Zhong(钟志远)1,2,5*
1State Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Interfacial Materials Science and Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
2College of Chemistry Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
3Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, The First Affliated Hospital of Soochow University Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
4Department of Orthopaedic SurgeryOrthopaedic Institute,The First Affiliated Hospital,Soochow University,Suzhou 215007, P. R. China
5College of Pharmaceutical Sciences,Soochow University,Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
Adv. Mater. 2026, 38, e12635
Abstract: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) poses severe clinical challenges due to its heterogeneity and the scattered nature of therapeutic targets. Moreover, suboptimal drug delivery to the bone marrow, combined with the protective effects of the niche that shelters residual leukemia cells, frequently underlies chemotherapy failure and relapse. Here, a neutrophil/leukemia-tropic polymersome vincristine/volasertib dual-drug nanoformulation (NLP-Vi/Vo) is reported to selectively bind to leukemia cells and neutrophils, and to ratiometrically release clinical chemotherapeutics and a polo-like kinase 1 inhibitor, thereby potentiating the treatment of AML. NLP-Vi/Vo induces synergistic anti-AML effects by sensitizing AML to chemotherapy, and homes to bone marrow by hitchhiking on neutrophils, cooperatively depleting leukemia in both the bloodstream and bone marrow. NLP-Vi/Vo shows excellent therapeutic efficacy in malignant murine AML and human AML xenograft models. Collectively, neutrophil/leukemia-directing dual-drug nanomedicines offer a promising treatment strategy for AML.
Article information: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202512635