Polymeric Delivery Vehicles for Nucleic Acid Vaccines: Design Strategies and Biological Barriers

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Vaccinology
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Nucleic acid vaccines show promise for infectious diseases and cancer immunotherapy.
• Clinical translation is limited by biological barriers, requiring efficient delivery systems.
• Biomedical polymers offer tunable properties for developing nucleic acid nanocarriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive review of polymeric delivery vehicles for nucleic acid vaccines.
• To focus on rational design strategies for overcoming physiological barriers.
• To examine current bottlenecks and future perspectives in polymeric nucleic acid vaccine development.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of functional polymer engineering strategies.
• Analysis of interfacial shielding, ligand modification, membrane perturbation, and stimuli-responsive disassembly.
• Critical examination of uptake, endosomal escape, and intracellular release mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Polymer engineering strategies facilitate systemic circulation and antigen-presenting cell uptake.
• Functional modifications enhance endosomal escape and intracellular cargo release.
• Current platforms face challenges in immune cell uptake and endosomal escape efficiency.

Conclusions:

• Polymeric nanocarriers are crucial for advancing nucleic acid vaccine technology.
• Targeted polymer design is essential to overcome biological barriers for improved vaccine delivery.
• Future research should focus on next-generation polymeric systems for clinical translation.