Seong-O Choi

Dissolving polymer microneedle patches for influenza vaccination

Influenza prophylaxis would benefit from a vaccination method enabling simplified logistics and improved immunogenicity without the dangers posed by hypodermic needles. Here we introduce dissolving microneedle patches for influenza vaccination using a simple patch-based system that targets delivery to skins antigen-presenting cells. Microneedles were fabricated using a biocompatible polymer encapsulating inactivated influenza virus vaccine for insertion and dissolution in the skin within minutes. Microneedle vaccination generated robust antibody and cellular immune responses in mice that provided complete protection against lethal challenge. Compared to conventional intramuscular injection, microneedle vaccination resulted in more efficient lung virus clearance and enhanced cellular recall responses after challenge. These results suggest that dissolving microneedle patches can provide a new technology for simpler and safer vaccination with improved immunogenicity that could facilitate increased vaccination coverage.

Dissolving Microneedle Patch for Transdermal Delivery of Human Growth Hormone

The clinical impact of biotechnology has been constrained by the limitations of traditional hypodermic injection of biopharmaceuticals. Microneedle patches have been proposed as a minimally invasive alternative. In this study, the translation of a dissolving microneedle patch designed for simple, painless self-administration of biopharmacetucials that generates no sharp biohazardous waste is assessed. To study the pharmacokinetics and safety of this approach, human growth hormone (hGH) was encapsulated in 600 μm-long dissolving microneedles composed of carboxymethylcellulose and trehalose using an aqueous, moderate-temperature process that maintained complete hGH activity after encapsulation and retained most activity after storage for up to 15 months at room temperature and humidity. After manual insertion into the skin of hairless rats, hGH pharmacokinetics were similar to conventional subcutaneous injection. After patch removal, the microneedles had almost completely dissolved, leaving behind only blunt stubs. The dissolving microneedle patch was well tolerated, causing only slight, transient erythema. This study suggests that a dissolving microneedle patch can deliver hGH and other biopharmaceuticals in a manner suitable for self-administration without sharp biohazardous waste.

Fabrication of dissolving polymer microneedles for controlled drug encapsulation and delivery: Bubble and pedestal microneedle designs

Dissolving microneedle patches offer promise as a simple, minimally invasive method of drug and vaccine delivery to the skin that avoids the need for hypodermic needles. However, it can be difficult to control the amount and localization of drug within microneedles. In this study, we developed novel microneedle designs to improve control of drug encapsulation and delivery using dissolving microneedles by (i) localizing drug in the microneedle tip, (ii) increasing the amount of drug loaded in microneedles while minimizing wastage, and (iii) inserting microneedles more fully into the skin. Localization of our model drug, sulforhodamine B in the microneedle tip by either casting a highly concentrated polymer solution as the needle matrix or incorporating an air bubble at the base of the microneedle achieved approximately 80% delivery within 10 min compared to 20% delivery achieved by the microneedles encapsulating nonlocalized drug. As another approach, a pedestal was introduced to elevate each microneedle for more complete insertion into the skin and to increase its drug loading capacity by threefold from 0.018 to 0.053 microL per needle. Altogether, these novel microneedle designs provide a new set of tools to fabricate dissolving polymer microneedles with improved control over drug encapsulation, loading, and delivery.

A microneedle roller for transdermal drug delivery

Microneedle rollers have been used to treat large areas of skin for cosmetic purposes and to increase skin permeability for drug delivery. In this study, we introduce a polymer microneedle roller fabricated by inclined rotational UV lithography, replicated by micromolding hydrophobic polylactic acid and hydrophilic carboxy-methyl-cellulose. These microneedles created micron-scale holes in human and porcine cadaver skin that permitted entry of acetylsalicylic acid, Trypan blue and nanoparticles measuring 50nm and 200nm in diameter. The amount of acetylsalicylic acid delivered increased with the number of holes made in the skin and was 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than in untreated skin. Lateral diffusion in the skin between holes made by microneedles followed expected diffusional kinetics, with effective diffusivity values that were 23-160 times smaller than in water. Compared to inserting microneedles on a flat patch, the sequential insertion of microneedles row by row on a roller required less insertion force in full-thickness porcine skin. Overall, polymer microneedle rollers, prepared from replicated polymer films, offer a simple way to increase skin permeability for drug delivery.

An electrically active microneedle array for electroporation

We have designed and fabricated a microneedle array with electrical functionality with the final goal of electroporating skin’s epidermal cells to increase their transfection by DNA vaccines. The microneedle array was made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) by micromolding technology from a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold, followed by metal deposition, patterning using laser ablation, and electrodeposition. This microneedle array possessed sufficient mechanical strength to penetrate human skin in vivo and was also able to electroporate both red blood cells and human prostate cancer cells as an in vitro model to demonstrate cell membrane permeabilization. A computational model to predict the effective volume for electroporation with respect to applied voltages was constructed from finite element simulation. This study demonstrates the mechanical and electrical functionalities of the first MEMS-fabricated microneedle array for electroporation, designed for DNA vaccine delivery.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination using a microneedle patch

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis continues to be a leading cause of mortality among bacterial diseases, and the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only licensed vaccine for human use against this disease. TB prevention and control would benefit from an improved method of BCG vaccination that simplifies logistics and eliminates dangers posed by hypodermic needles without compromising immunogenicity. Here, we report the design and engineering of a BCG-coated microneedle vaccine patch for a simple and improved intradermal delivery of the vaccine. The microneedle vaccine patch induced a robust cell-mediated immune response in both the lungs and the spleen of guinea pigs. The response was comparable to the traditional hypodermic needle based intradermal BCG vaccination and was characterized by a strong antigen specific lymphocyte proliferation and IFN-γ levels with high frequencies of CD4(+)IFN-γ(+), CD4(+)TNF-α(+) and CD4(+)IFN-γ(+)TNF-α(+) T cells. The BCG-coated microneedle vaccine patch was highly immunogenic in guinea pigs and supports further exploration of this new technology as a simpler, safer, and compliant vaccination that could facilitate increased coverage, especially in developing countries that lack adequate healthcare infrastructure.

Increased immunogenicity of avian influenza DNA vaccine delivered to the skin using a microneedle patch

Effective public health responses to an influenza pandemic require an effective vaccine that can be manufactured and administered to large populations in the shortest possible time. In this study, we evaluated a method for vaccination against avian influenza virus that uses a DNA vaccine for rapid manufacturing and delivered by a microneedle skin patch for simplified administration and increased immunogenicity. We prepared patches containing 700-μm long microneedles coated with an avian H5 influenza hemagglutinin DNA vaccine from A/Viet Nam/1203/04 influenza virus. The coating DNA dose increased with DNA concentration in the coating solution and the number of dip-coating cycles. Coated DNA was released into the skin tissue by dissolution within minutes. Vaccination of mice using microneedles induced higher levels of antibody responses and hemagglutination inhibition titers, and improved protection against lethal infection with avian influenza as compared to conventional intramuscular delivery of the same dose of the DNA vaccine. Additional analysis showed that the microneedle coating solution containing carboxymethylcellulose and a surfactant may have negatively affected the immunogenicity of the DNA vaccine. Overall, this study shows that DNA vaccine delivery by microneedles can be a promising approach for improved vaccination to mitigate an influenza pandemic.

Intracellular Protein Delivery and Gene Transfection by Electroporation Using a Microneedle Electrode Array

The impact of many biopharmaceuticals, including protein- and gene-based therapies, has been limited by the need for better methods of delivery into cells within tissues. Here, intracellular delivery of molecules and transfection with plasmid DNA by electroporation is presented using a novel microneedle electrode array designed for the targeted treatment of skin and other tissue surfaces. The microneedle array is molded out of polylactic acid. Electrodes and circuitry required for electroporation are applied to the microneedle array surface by a new metal-transfer micromolding method. The microneedle array maintains mechanical integrity after insertion into pig cadaver skin and is able to electroporate human prostate cancer cells in vitro. Quantitative measurements show that increasing electroporation pulse voltage increases uptake efficiency of calcein and bovine serum albumin, whereas increasing pulse length has lesser effects over the range studied. Uptake of molecules by up to 50% of cells and transfection of 12% of cells with a gene for green fluorescent protein is demonstrated at high cell viability. It is concluded that the microneedle electrode array is able to electroporate cells, resulting in intracellular uptake of molecules, and has potential applications to improve intracellular delivery of proteins, DNA, and other biopharmaceuticals.

Delivery of salmon calcitonin using a microneedle patch

Peptides and polypeptides have important pharmacological properties but only a limited number have been exploited as therapeutics because of problems related to their delivery. Most of these drugs require a parenteral delivery system which introduces the problems of pain, possible infection, and expertise required to carry out an injection. The aim of this study was to develop a transdermal patch containing microneedles (MNs) coated with a peptide drug, salmon calcitonin (sCT), as an alternative to traditional subcutaneous and nasal delivery routes. Quantitative analysis of sCT after coating and drying onto microneedles was performed with a validated HPLC method. In vivo studies were carried out on hairless rats and serum levels of sCT were determined by ELISA. The AUC value of MNs coated with a trehalose-containing formulation (250 ± 83 ng/mL min) was not significantly different as compared to subcutaneous injections (403 ± 253 ng/mL min), but approximately 13 times higher than nasal administration (18.4 ± 14.5 ng/mL min). T(max) (7.5 ± 5 min) values for MN mediated administration were 50% shorter than subcutaneous injections (15 min), possibly due to rapid sCT dissolution and absorption by dermal capillaries. These results suggest that with further optimization of coating formulations, microneedles may enable administration of sCT and other peptides without the need for hypodermic injections.

Transdermal insulin delivery using microdermabrasion.

ABSTRACTPurposeTransdermal insulin delivery is an attractive needle-free alternative to subcutaneous injection conventionally used to treat diabetes. However, skin’s barrier properties prevent insulin permeation at useful levels.MethodsWe investigated whether microdermabrasion can selectively remove skin’s surface layers to increase skin permeability as a method to administer insulin to diabetic rats. We further assessed the relative roles of stratum corneum and viable epidermis as barriers to insulin delivery.ResultsPretreatment of skin with microdermabrasion to selectively remove stratum corneum did not have a significant effect on insulin delivery or reduction in blood glucose level (BGL). Removal of full epidermis by microdermabrasion significantly reduced BGL, similar to the positive control involving subcutaneous injection of 0.1U insulin. Significant pharmacokinetic differences between microdermabrasion and subcutaneous injection were faster time to peak insulin concentration after injection and larger peak insulin concentration and area-under-the-curve after microdermabrasion.ConclusionsMicrodermabrasion can increase skin permeability to insulin at levels sufficient to reduce BGL. Viable epidermis is a barrier to insulin delivery such that removal of full epidermis enables significantly more insulin delivery than removal of stratum corneum alone.