Dendritic cell (DC) modification to enhance antigen presentation is a valuable strategy in cancer immune therapy. Other than focusing on regulating interactions between DC and antigens, we intend to promote cell interactions between DC and T cell by cell surface engineering. T cell activation is greatly improved and generates higher tumor toxicity with the aid of the synthetic glycopolymer modified on the DC surface, although the glycopolymer alone shows no effect. The great promotion of DC–T cell attraction is revealed by cell image tracking in terms of both frequency and duration of contacts. Our findings provide a new method of T cell activation by these engineered “sweet DCs.” This strategy is beneficial for developing more efficient DC-based vaccines.

树突状细胞（DC）修饰以增强抗原呈递是癌症免疫治疗中的一个有价值的策略。除了关注调节DC与抗原之间的相互作用外，我们还打算通过细胞表面工程促进DC与T细胞之间的细胞相互作用。借助 DC 表面修饰的合成糖聚合物，T 细胞活化得到极大改善，并产生更高的肿瘤毒性，尽管单独的糖聚合物没有显示任何效果。通过细胞图像跟踪在接触频率和持续时间方面揭示了 DC-T 细胞吸引力的巨大促进作用。我们的研究结果提供了一种通过这些工程化“甜蜜 DC”激活 T 细胞的新方法。该策略有利于开发更有效的基于 DC 的疫苗。