Polymeric nanoparticles have some exceptional characteristics which are attracting more and more attention for vaccine delivery, such as good biocompatibility, biodegradability, side chain modification and nonimmunogenicity [
25,
76]. Common polymer nanomaterials used in nanocarrier system include polyethyleneimine (PEI), poly(lactic-
co-glycolic acid), polylactic acid (PLA), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polycaprolactone (PCL),
etc. Several polymer materials approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), such as PLGA, PEG and PLA, are one of the most extensively studied materials as vaccine carriers [
63]. The biocompatibility of PLGA is embodied in that it can be hydrolyzed into lactic acid and glycolic acid upon contact with aqueous solutions, and the latter can be further metabolized into carbon dioxide and water [
77]. Furthermore, PLGA has been shown to stimulate the immune response [
78]. In a recent study, Koerner's team developed a new cancer vaccine based on PLGA that can synergistically promote the efficacy of ICI [
79]. They used PLGA to co-encapsulate the protein antigen and Riboxxim, that is a double-stranded RNA of the TLR3/RIG-I ligand approved for use as an immune stimulant in humans, and found that both nanoparticles and microparticles can cause similar cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL) responses in mice. Excitingly, it is reported that this vaccine combined with ICI is undergoing the first small phase I human clinical trial. Similar to PLGA, PLA has also received attention in vaccine carrier materials. In general, the cationic liposomes mentioned above are often preferred as carriers for RNA-based vaccines because of their surface charge [
80-
84]. PLA-NPs are negatively charged on the surface like mRNA, so it is difficult to directly use as a carrier for mRNA. However, Coolen
et al. [
85] formed complexes between the cationic cell-penetrating peptides and mRNAs, and then absorbed the complex to PLA-NPs, thus realizing the vectorization of mRNAs using PLA-NPs. This shows that other polymeric materials like PLA are expected to use similar methods to deliver negatively charged nucleic acid antigens. Some polymer nanomaterials are also used as antigen carriers that can promote endosomal escape because of their pH-dependent membrane destabilizing activity. Poly(propylacrylic acid) (pPAA) is one of them. Qiu's team had developed a peptide antigen platform utilizing such characteristics of pPAA [
86]. The nanocomposite can be obtained momentarily by mixing the decalysine-modified peptides and pPAA, and the synthesis steps are simple and fast. This delivery system enhanced antigen cross-presentation, effectively improved the immunogenicity of antigenic peptides, and was proven to be successful in preventing tumor growth in the B16 mouse tumor model. In normal circumstances, nanovaccines need to be administered repeatedly to achieve the best effect, but this will affect the patient's compliance to a certain extent [
87-
89]. Therefore, polymeric hydrogel systems that can release substances slowly over a period of time have been studied as a drug delivery platform [
90]. For example, an ultrasound-responsive self-healing hydrogel system is developed for the sustained and controlled release of cancer vaccines (
Fig. 2) [
91]. They used OVA as antigens and R837 as immune adjuvants to prepare nanoparticles by the double-emulsion method. The obtained OVA@R837-PLGA nanoparticles (ORP NPs) were encapsulated in a hydrogel system composed of oligo (ethylene glycol) methacrylate and inorganic clay. Upon ultrasonic treatment, the antigen together with adjuvant would be released due to the collapse of the hydrogel. After the ultrasound removed, the hydrogel would be self-healed. Based on this property, the system can achieve improved patient compliance through a single injection and multiple ultrasound treatments. Notably, the immune response elicited by a single injection of the hydrogel was more potent than that elicited by the same dose of the nanovaccines by multiple direct injections. In addition, to utilize this ultrasound-responsive hydrogel system for personalized vaccine delivery, membrane-coated R837-PLGA nanoparticles (RPM NPs) were further prepared using cancer cell membranes collected from excised tumors. The combination of RPM NPs with
α-PD-1 showed excellent tumor suppression with a survival rate of 83.3% in mice at 80 days. Indeed, such a drug delivery system can be used for the delivery of other types of vaccines as well.