Figure 1. Schematic illustration of polymer-enhanced combination of immunogenic chemotherapy and PD-L1 degradation.

Backbone-degradable HPMA copolymer facilitates tumor targeting of immunogenic drug to enhance its direct antitumor activity as well as induction of ICD to “heat up” the antitumor immunity. Meanwhile, the copolymer also mediates the surface crosslinking of PD-L1, biases its recycling to lysosome degradation, and exhibits persistent suppression. This two-pronged approach recruits and revives the slumbering T cells in tumors and spurs T cell responses durably.