Antigen‐Capturing Dendritic‐Cell–Targeting Nanoparticles for Enhanced Tumor Immunotherapy Based on Photothermal‐Therapy–Induced In Situ Vaccination

Abstract In situ vaccines have revolutionized immunotherapy as they can stimulate tumor‐specific immune responses, with the cancer being the antigen source. However, the heterogeneity of tumor antigens and insufficient dendritic cells (DCs) activation result in low cancer immunogenicity and hence poor vaccine response. Herein, a new in situ vaccine composed of acid‐responsive liposome‐coated polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles modified with mannose and loaded with resiquimod (R848) is designed to promote the efficacy of immunotherapy. The in situ vaccine can actively target the tumor site based on the decomposition of the liposome, while the PDA nanoparticles promote photothermal therapy and capture the immunogenic cell‐death–induced tumor‐associated antigens based on the adsorption effect of dopamine‐mimetic mussels. The PDA nanoparticles, which are modified with a mannose ligand, target the DCs and release R848 for activated antigen presentation. As a result, the in situ vaccine not only effectively activates the maturation of the DCs but also significantly enhances their effect on cytotoxic T lymphocyte cells. Furthermore, the vaccine effectively inhibits the distant recurrence and metastasis of tumors via long‐term immune memory effects. Therefore, the in situ vaccine provides a potential strategy for improving the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.