Abstract

With the support of modern biotechnology, vaccine technology continues to iterate. The safety and efficacy of vaccines are some of the most important areas of development in the field. As a natural substance, chitosan is widely used in numerous fields-such as immune stimulation, drug delivery, wound healing, and antibacterial procedures-due to its good biocompatibility, low toxicity, biodegradability, and adhesion. Chitosan-based nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted extensive attention with respect to vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems due to their excellent properties, which can effectively enhance immune responses. Here, we list the classifications and mechanisms of action of vaccine adjuvants. At the same time, the preparation methods of chitosan, its NPs, and their mechanism of action in the delivery system are introduced. The extensive applications of chitosan and its NPs in protein vaccines and nucleic acid vaccines are also introduced. This paper reviewed the latest research progress of chitosan-based NPs in vaccine adjuvant and drug delivery systems.

MeSH

Vaccines, Nanostructures, Chitosan, Technology, Adjuvants, Vaccine

Cited by

• The Whole Is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts - Challenges and Perspectives in Polyelectrolytes. Biomacromolecules, 2025
• Advances in the Functionalization of Vaccine Delivery Systems: Innovative Strategies and Translational Perspectives. Pharmaceutics, 2025
• Recent Developments in Oral Delivery of Vaccines Using Nanocarriers. Vaccines (Basel), 2023
• Oral bioavailability of a noncoding RNA drug, TY1, that acts on macrophages. bioRxiv, 2024
• The Role of Mucoadhesion and Mucopenetration in the Immune Response Induced by Polymer-Based Mucosal Adjuvants. Polymers (Basel), 2023
• Lipopolysaccharide targeting-peptide-capped chitosan gold nanoparticles for laser-induced antibacterial activity. Nanomedicine (Lond), 2024
• Natural carrier systems in cancer vaccines and immunotherapy. Hum Vaccin Immunother, 2025
• Immune Modulation with Oral DNA/RNA Nanoparticles. Pharmaceutics, 2025
• Multi-disciplinary approaches paving the way for clinically effective peptide vaccines for cancer. NPJ Vaccines, 2025
• Enhanced anti-cancer effect of AMTB hydrochloride via chitosan nanoparticles in pancreatic cancer. BMC Cancer, 2025
• Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) Microspheres Encapsulating a Viral-Binding Protein, PmRab7, for Preventing White Spot Syndrome Virus in Shrimp. ACS Biomater Sci Eng, 2025
• Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of an inactivated infectious bronchitis virus vaccine candidate from a local isolate of Bangladesh. J Adv Vet Anim Res, 2024
• Development of Immersion and Oral Bivalent Nanovaccines for Streptococcosis and Columnaris Disease Prevention in Fry and Fingerling Asian Seabass () Nursery Farms. Vaccines (Basel), 2024
• Chitosan-based formulations for therapeutic applications. A recent overview. J Biomed Sci, 2025
• Oral Bioavailability of a Noncoding RNA Drug, TY1, That Acts on Macrophages. J Extracell Biol, 2025
• Combination Therapy and Phytochemical-Loaded Nanosytems for the Treatment of Neglected Tropical Diseases. Pharmaceutics, 2024
• The Paradoxical Immunomodulatory Effects of Chitosan in Biomedicine. Polymers (Basel), 2025
• Next Generation Mucosal Vaccine Strategy for Respiratory Pathogens. Vaccines (Basel), 2023
• Nanotechnology-driven advances in intranasal vaccine delivery systems against infectious diseases. Front Immunol, 2025
• Efficient Delivery of SARS-CoV-2 Plasmid DNA in HEK-293T Cells Using Chitosan Nanoparticles. Pharmaceuticals (Basel), 2025