Dendritic cell (DC) vaccines hold great potential in cancer immunotherapy, but the suboptimal design of DC vaccines and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment largely impair their anti-tumor efficacy. Here, quantum dot (QD) pulsed-DC vaccines integrating with tumor-associated macrophage polarization are developed for amplified anti-tumor immunity. Semiconductor QDs are engineered with diverse functions to act as fluorescence nanoprobes, immunomodulatory adjuvants, and nanocarriers to load tumor antigens and Toll-like receptor 9 agonists. The QD-pulsed DC vaccines enable spatiotemporal tracking of lymphatic drainage and efficacy evaluation of DC immunotherapy, and trigger potent immunoactivation. Specifically, designer DC vaccine plus macrophage polarization elicits potent immune response to stimulate innate and adaptive antitumor immunity and ameliorate the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. As a new combination therapy, this strategy greatly boosts antigen-specific T-cell immunity and thus strongly inhibits local tumor growth and tumor metastasis in vivo. This study may provide an applicable treatment for cancer immunotherapy.

树突状细胞（DC）疫苗在癌症免疫治疗中具有巨大潜力，但DC疫苗的次优设计和免疫抑制性肿瘤微环境在很大程度上损害了其抗肿瘤功效。在这里，开发了与肿瘤相关巨噬细胞极化相结合的量子点 (QD) 脉冲 DC 疫苗，以增强抗肿瘤免疫力。半导体量子点经过精心设计，具有多种功能，可用作荧光纳米探针、免疫调节佐剂和负载肿瘤抗原和 Toll 样受体 9 激动剂的纳米载体。 QD脉冲DC疫苗能够实现淋巴引流的时空追踪和DC免疫治疗的疗效评估，并触发有效的免疫激活。具体来说，设计的 DC 疫苗加上巨噬细胞极化可引发有效的免疫反应，从而刺激先天性和适应性抗肿瘤免疫并改善免疫抑制性肿瘤微环境。作为一种新的联合疗法，该策略极大地增强了抗原特异性T细胞免疫，从而强烈抑制体内局部肿瘤生长和肿瘤转移。这项研究可能为癌症免疫治疗提供一种适用的治疗方法。