Table 1.
PEI as Co-Delivery System for Cancer Therapy
| No | PEI Type | Anticancer Drug | Gene-Therapy | Combination | Cancer Type | In vitro | In vivo | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Branched | PTX | - | Ag-PEI-PTX Functionalized AgNPs, PEI, and PTX |
Liver cancer | HepG2 | - | [29] |
| 2. | Branched, 10 kDa | PTX | - | (PEI-SA) HA/PTX PEI grafted with SA, modified with HA, and complexed with PTX |
Ovarian cancer | SKOV3-TR30 (MDR) | Tumor-bearing nude mice | [30] |
| 3. | Branched, 25 kDa | EPI and PTX | - | PLGA-PEI-EPI or -PTX PGLA conjugated with PEI, and loaded with EPI and PTX |
Lung cancer | A549 | - | [31] |
| 4. | PEI coated with ZnO-SiO2 | Ru | - | Ru–CA–PEI–ZnO–SiO2 CSNPs Ru grafted with CA; co-delivery of PEI coated with ZnO-SiO2 |
Cervical cancer | HeLa | Female athymic nude mice | [33] |
| 5. | 2 kDa | - | pEGFP-N2 | Pluronic-PEI-DR5-TAT/pEGFP-N2 DNA DR5-TAT-modified Pluronic-PEI loaded with pEGFP-N2 DNA. |
DR5-positive (cervical cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer) | HeLa, HepG2, and NIH 3T | - | [34] |
| 6. | Branched, 25 kDa | - | pEGFP, Bcl-2 AS ODN | PEI-CA/pEGFP and Bcl-2 AS ODN PEI-CA complexed with Bcl-2 AS-ODN and pEGFP plasmid |
Cervical cancer | HeLa | - | [35] |
| 7. | Linear, 22, 87, and 217 kDa Branched, 25 kDa |
- | pZsGreen1-N1 | PEI/pDNA | Bovine fetal fibroblast, kidney cancer, liver cancer | BFF, HEK293, and HepG2 | - | [36] |
| 8. | Branched, 25 kDa | - | MRP1-siRNA | PEI copped-pSiNPs-MRP1-siRNA pSiNPs complex with PEI loaded with MRP1-siRNA |
Glioblastoma | U87 | CD-1 nude mice | [37] |
| 9. | Branched, 25 kDa | - | Human DKK-1 and murine PD-L1 cDNA subcloned to pcDNA3.1 plasmid | PLGA/PEI-pPD-L1/pDDK-1 vaccine PLGA/PEI complexed with DKK-1 and PD-L1 |
Multiple myeloma/Plasma cell cancer | - | Tumor-bearing Female BALB/c mice | [38] |
| 10. | Branched, 25 kDa | - | Anti-PLK1 (PLK1-homo-581) siRNA | PEG-GO-PEI-FA/anti-PLK1 (PLK1-homo-581) siRNA PEG and PEI complexed with functionalized GO and FA, loaded with anti-PLK1 (PLK1-homo-581) siRNA |
Ovarian cancer | SKOV3 | - | [39] |
| 11. | Branched, 25 kDa | DTX | pDNA | TAT-DTX/pDNA LPNs modified TAT, DTX, and pDNA loaded to CPPs modified LPNs |
Prostate cancer | PC3 | Female BALB/c mice weighing | [52] |
| 12. | Branched | DTX | p44/42 MAPK siRNA | DTX/BSA-PEILBL/siRNAP PSMAab-conjugated fluorescent BSA-branched PEILBL) loaded with DTX and p44/42 MAPK siRNA |
Prostate cancer | PZ-HPV-7, CWR22R, PC3, LNCaP, DU145, HEK293, MGH-U1, and MGH-U1R | Mice | [53] |
| 13. | Branched, 25 kDa | DOX | pEGFP | HDDN-DOX-HBA-PEI (DHP) complexed with HA and pDNA | Liver cancer | HepG2 | - | [46] |
| 14. | PEI-g-Pleu | DOX | pGL3, Bcl-2-shRNA | PEI-g-Pleu PEI grafted by one step ROP with L-leucine N-carboxy anhydride, and complexed with DNA and shRNA |
Melanoma | B16F10 | - | [48] |
| 15. | 1.8 kDa | DOX | pEGFP-C1 | PEI/DNA-DNPs DNPs condensed with PEI/DNA nano complex |
Cervical cancer | HeLa, L929 | Male BALB/c nude mice | [49] |
| 16. | Branched (0.8, 1.3, 25 kDa) Linear (2.5, 8 kDa) |
MTX | pcDNA3-FLAG-p53 | PEI/p53 encoding pDNA/MTX PEI/pDNA nanoparticles loaded with MTX |
Cervical cancer | HeLa | - | [55] |
| 17. | Branched, 1.8 kDa | DOX | Bcl-2 siRNA | Bcl-2 siRNA/DOX/GH-DPP DSPE-PEG-PEI complexed with GA-HA as liver-targeted nanoparticles (GH-DPP), loaded with Bcl-2 siRNA and DOX |
Liver cancer | HepG2 | H22-bearing mice | [51] |
| 18. | Branched, 25 kDa | MTX | Cy5-labeled survivin siRNA | M-MTX/Cy-5 labeled survivin siRNA Functionalized MTX conjugated with LA-modified branched PEI (MTX-bPEI-LA) to form mixed micelles (M-MTX), and loaded with Cy5-labeled survivin siRNA |
Cervical cancer | HeLa | Tumor-bearing nude mice | [56] |
| 19. | Branched | RA | miR-29b | P103-PEI-RA/miR-29b Pluronic P103 linked to PEI, complexed with RA and miR-29b |
Lung cancer | A549 and H1299 | - | [58] |
| 20. | 1.8 kDa | DOX | siPgp | PAPD nanoparticles Hypoxia-sensitive PAPD loaded with DOX and anti-siPgp |
Ovarian cancer | A2780 Adriamycin resistant (ADR), MCF7 | - | [61] |
| 21. | Branched, 25 kDa | PFD | siScr | F-PEI-PFD/siScr F-PEI and PFD emulsions, complexed with siScr |
Melanoma | B16F10 | C57BL/6 mice | [65] |
Abbreviations: Ag-NPs, silver nanoparticles; AS-ODN, antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide; Bcl-2, B cell lymphoma-2; BSA, bovine serum albumin; CA, cholic acid; CPPs, cell-penetrating peptides; DKK-1, dickkopf-1; DTX, docetaxel; DOX, doxorubicin; DNPs, doxorubicin nanoparticles; DSPE, 1,2-distearoyl-sn glycerol-3-phosphoethanolamine; EPI, epirubicin; FA, folic acid; F-PEI, fluorinated polyethyleneimine; GA-HA, glycyrrhetinic acid-modified hyaluronic acid; GO, graphene oxide; HA, hyaluronic acid; HBA, hydrazinobenzoic acid; HDDN, hyaluronic-acid DHP/DNA nanoparticles; LA, linoleic acid; LPNs, lipid–PEI hybrid nanoparticles; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; MRP1, multi-drug resistance-associated protein 1; MTX, methotrexate; PAPD, PEG-azobenzene-PEI-DOPE; pDNA, plasmid DNA; PD-L1, programmed death-ligand-1; PEG, polyethylene glycol; pEGFP, enhanced green fluorescent protein plasmid; PEI, polyethyleneimine; PEI-g-PLeu, PEI-g-poly-L-leucine; PEILBL, PEI layer by layer; PFD, perfluoro decalin; pSiNPs, porous silicon nanoparticles; PLGA, poly-(lactic-co-glycolic) acid; PLK1, polo like kinase 1; PSMAab, prostate-specific membrane antigen-antibody; PTX, paclitaxel; RA, retinoic acid; ROP, ring-opening polymerization; Ru, ruthenium pro-drug; SA, salicylic acid; shRNA, short hairpin RNA; siRNA, small interfering RNA; siPgp, P-gp siRNA; siScr, scrambled siRNA; TAT, RKKRRQRRR peptide.