Boronized manganese adjuvant enables potent antitumor whole cell vaccines featuring boosted immunogenicity and antigen presentation

Whole tumor cell vaccines (TCVs) show the full endogenous antigen repertoire, yet insufficient immunogenicity and antigen presentation remain obstacles to clinical translation. To address these challenges, this study develops a β-cyclodextrin-embedded boronized manganese adjuvant (labelled as MnB@β-CD) to couple strong photothermal conversion with immune regulatory function, featuring on-demand Mn 2+ release to activate the STING pathway. Loading MnB@β-CD into tumor cells followed by near-infrared (NIR) irradiation induced immunogenic cell death (ICD) in tumor cells, amplified type I/II interferon signaling and IL-12 secretion, and promoted dendritic cell (DC) maturation with efficient antigen cross-presentation, thus triggering robust antigen-specific CD8 + T cell responses and long-term immune memory. Encapsulation of the MnB@β-CD-based TCV (mG-TCV) within an injectable alginate-based hydrogel (ALG) further provided prolonged local retention, supporting sustained immune activation. This hydrogel-based vaccine achieved effective tumor suppression, with a tumor inhibition rate (TIR) of 90%. As a multifunctional manganese-based adjuvant, MnB@β-CD offered an NIR-responsive and programmable strategy for generating TCVs derived from ICD-induced cancer cells.