Efficient antigen cross-presentation through coating conventional aluminum adjuvant particles with PEI

Hongyan Ren; Yongbin Mou; Lin Lin; Lixin Wang; Hongming Hu

Efficient antigen cross-presentation through coating conventional aluminum adjuvant particles with PEI

Am J Transl Res. 2021 May 15;13(5):4092-4102. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hongyan Ren^{1

2}, Yongbin Mou^{2

3}, Lin Lin^{2

4}, Lixin Wang⁵, Hongming Hu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, School of Medicine & Holistic Integrative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
² Laboratory of Cancer Immunobiology, Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Center Portland, OR, USA.
³ Nanjing Stomatological Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University Nanjing, China.
⁴ Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine China.
⁵ School of Medicine, Southeast University Nanjing, China.

PMID: 34150001
PMCID: PMC8205809

Abstract

Classical aluminum adjuvant is a deficient antigen carrier for cross-presentation and cross-priming of CD8⁺ cytotoxic T cells. Our previous research has demonstrated that cross-presentation efficiency significantly increased when antigens are conjugated covalently to α-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. Here we found that coating conventional aluminum adjuvants with polyethyleneimine (PEI) could enhance antigen cross-presentation of DCs (dendritic cells) in vitro and in vivo. PEIs exerted differential effects on antigen cross-presentation. These findings provided an alternative approach to promote the rapid translation of alumina nanoparticles adjuvants into clinical application.

Keywords: Aluminum adjuvant; PEI; antigen cross-presentation; dendritic cells.