Abstract: Vaccines have shown great success in treating and preventing tumors and infections, while adjuvants are always demanded to ensure potent immune responses. Polyethylenimine (PEI), as one of the well-studied cationic polymers, has been used as a transfection reagent for decades. However, increasing evidence has shown that PEI-based particles are also capable of acting as adjuvants. In this paper, we briefly review the physicochemical properties and the broad applications of PEI in different fields, and elaborate on the intracellular processes of PEI-based vaccines. In addition, we sum up the proof of their in vivo and clinical applications. We also highlight some mechanisms proposed for the intrinsic immunoactivation function of PEI, followed by the challenges and future perspectives of the applications of PEI in the vaccines, as well as some strategies to elicit the desirable immune responses.
Keywords: cationic polymers, APCs, immunoactivation, danger signals, anti-infection, anticancer

*作者的正确隶属单位应该包含邮政编码，如下：

Chen Shen¹
Jun Li¹
Yi Zhang¹
Yuce Li²
Guanxin Shen³
Jintao Zhu²
Juan Tao¹

¹Department of Dermatology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China; ²School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; ³Department of Immunology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China 

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