Liver cancer is known as the "silent killer"—its early symptoms are concealed, and by the time of diagnosis, it has often progressed to the middle or advanced stages, missing the optimal window for intervention.
Although traditional surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy can control tumor progression in the short term, they have limitations such as insufficient targeting, significant toxic side effects, and a high likelihood of tumor relapse and metastasis.
While emerging therapies like CAR-T have shown efficacy in hematologic malignancies, they have repeatedly encountered setbacks in liver cancer treatment due to issues such as off-target toxicity and inadequate infiltration of solid tumors.
The turning point came during a museum visit...
We encountered a bronze vessel adorned with the gluttonous taotie motif, symbolizing greed and desire, which reminded us once again of the ferocity of liver cancer.
The docent explained, "The taotie devours all things..." "Isn't that just like macrophages!" blurted out one team member.
In that instant, a brilliant idea emerged: using macrophages as the blade to directly target liver cancer!
Weeks later, in the laboratory petri dish, the first macrophage bearing the "SYNERGY" codename began its transformation.
We modeled the targeting receptor after the symmetry of bronze patterns and constructed a dual-signaling pathway based on the equilibrium principle of Broussonetia papyrifera's binocular vision.
Through carefully designed functional components, we ensure that after SYNERGY enters the human body, it will only be activated in the liver, which greatly reduces the risk of off-target.
On one hand, The activated SYNERGY can enhance its own phagocytic ability against tumor cells.