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Nguyen HX, Kipping T, Banga AK. Polymeric Microneedles Enhance Transdermal Delivery of Therapeutics. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:845. [PMID: 39065542 PMCID: PMC11280287 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16070845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2024] [Revised: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
This research presents the efficacy of polymeric microneedles in improving the transdermal permeation of methotrexate across human skin. These microneedles were fabricated from PLGA Expansorb® 50-2A and 50-8A and subjected to comprehensive characterization via scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and mechanical analysis. We developed and assessed a methotrexate hydrogel for physicochemical and rheological properties. Dye binding, histological examinations, and assessments of skin integrity demonstrated the effective microporation of the skin by PLGA microneedles. We measured the dimensions of microchannels in the skin using scanning electron microscopy, pore uniformity analysis, and confocal microscopy. The skin permeation and disposition of methotrexate were researched in vitro. PLGA 50-8A microneedles appeared significantly longer, sharper, and more mechanically uniform than PLGA 50-2A needles. PLGA 50-8A needles generated substantially more microchannels, as well as deeper, larger, and more uniform channels in the skin than PLGA 50-2A needles. Microneedle insertion substantially reduced skin electrical resistance, accompanied by an elevation in transepidermal water loss values. PLGA 50-8A microneedle treatment provided a significantly higher cumulative delivery, flux, diffusion coefficient, permeability coefficient, and predicted steady-state plasma concentration; however, there was a shorter lag time than for PLGA 50-2A needles, base-treated, and untreated groups (p < 0.05). Conclusively, skin microporation using polymeric microneedles significantly improved the transdermal delivery of methotrexate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiep X. Nguyen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Phenikaa University, Yen Nghia, Ha Dong, Hanoi 12116, Vietnam;
| | - Thomas Kipping
- MilliporeSigma, a Business of Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Ajay K. Banga
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA
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Shah SA, Oakes RS, Jewell CM. Advancing immunotherapy using biomaterials to control tissue, cellular, and molecular level immune signaling in skin. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2024; 209:115315. [PMID: 38670230 PMCID: PMC11111363 DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2024.115315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Immunotherapies have been transformative in many areas, including cancer treatments, allergies, and autoimmune diseases. However, significant challenges persist in extending the reach of these technologies to new indications and patients. Some of the major hurdles include narrow applicability to patient groups, transient efficacy, high cost burdens, poor immunogenicity, and side effects or off-target toxicity that results from lack of disease-specificity and inefficient delivery. Thus, there is a significant need for strategies that control immune responses generated by immunotherapies while targeting infection, cancer, allergy, and autoimmunity. Being the outermost barrier of the body and the first line of host defense, the skin presents a unique immunological interface to achieve these goals. The skin contains a high concentration of specialized immune cells, such as antigen-presenting cells and tissue-resident memory T cells. These cells feature diverse and potent combinations of immune receptors, providing access to cellular and molecular level control to modulate immune responses. Thus, skin provides accessible tissue, cellular, and molecular level controls that can be harnessed to improve immunotherapies. Biomaterial platforms - microneedles, nano- and micro-particles, scaffolds, and other technologies - are uniquely capable of modulating the specialized immunological niche in skin by targeting these distinct biological levels of control. This review highlights recent pre-clinical and clinical advances in biomaterial-based approaches to target and modulate immune signaling in the skin at the tissue, cellular, and molecular levels for immunotherapeutic applications. We begin by discussing skin cytoarchitecture and resident immune cells to establish the biological rationale for skin-targeting immunotherapies. This is followed by a critical presentation of biomaterial-based pre-clinical and clinical studies aimed at controlling the immune response in the skin for immunotherapy and therapeutic vaccine applications in cancer, allergy, and autoimmunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shrey A Shah
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 8278 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Robert S Oakes
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 8278 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Maryland Health Care System, 10. N Green Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Christopher M Jewell
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 8278 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Maryland Health Care System, 10. N Green Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, 8278 Paint Branch Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA; Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, 22 S. Greene Street, Suite N9E17, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
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Choi H, Hong J, Seo Y, Joo SH, Lim H, Lahiji SF, Kim YH. Self-Assembled Oligopeptoplex-Loaded Dissolving Microneedles for Adipocyte-Targeted Anti-Obesity Gene Therapy. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2309920. [PMID: 38213134 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202309920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Advancements in gene delivery systems are pivotal for gene-based therapeutics in oncological, inflammatory, and infectious diseases. This study delineates the design of a self-assembled oligopeptoplex (SA-OP) optimized for shRNA delivery to adipocytes, targeting obesity and associated metabolic syndromes. Conventional systems face challenges, including instability due to electrostatic interactions between genetic materials and cationic oligopeptides. Additionally, repeated injections induce discomfort and compromise patient well-being. To circumvent these issues, a dissolvable hyaluronic acid-based, self-locking microneedle (LMN) patch is developed, with improved micro-dose efficiency, for precise SA-OP delivery. This platform offers pain-free administration and improved SA-OP storage stability. In vitro studies in 3T3-L1 cells demonstrated improvements in SA-OP preservation and gene silencing efficacy. In vivo evaluation in a mice model of diet-induced type 2 diabetes yielded significant gene silencing in adipose tissue and a 21.92 ± 2.51% reduction in body weight with minimum relapse risk at 6-weeks post-treatment, representing a superior therapeutic efficacy in a truncated timeframe relative to the GLP-1 analogues currently available on the market. Additionally, SA-OP (LMN) mitigated insulin resistance, inflammation, and hepatic steatosis. These findings establish SA-OP (LMN) as a robust, minimally invasive transdermal gene delivery platform with prolonged storage stability for treating obesity and its metabolic comorbidities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heekyung Choi
- Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Education and Research Group for Biopharmaceutical Innovation Leader, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Juhyeong Hong
- Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Education and Research Group for Biopharmaceutical Innovation Leader, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Yuha Seo
- Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Education and Research Group for Biopharmaceutical Innovation Leader, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Seung-Hwan Joo
- Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Education and Research Group for Biopharmaceutical Innovation Leader, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Hanseok Lim
- Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Education and Research Group for Biopharmaceutical Innovation Leader, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
| | - Shayan Fakhraei Lahiji
- Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Cursus Bio Inc., Icure Tower, Seoul, 06170, Republic of Korea
| | - Yong-Hee Kim
- Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Education and Research Group for Biopharmaceutical Innovation Leader, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea
- Cursus Bio Inc., Icure Tower, Seoul, 06170, Republic of Korea
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Zhao P, Li Z, Ling Z, Zheng Y, Chang H. Efficient Loading and Sustained Delivery of Methotrexate Using a Tip-Swellable Microneedle Array Patch for Psoriasis Treatment. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2024; 10:921-931. [PMID: 38288701 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.3c01810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/13/2024]
Abstract
Methotrexate (MTX), a primary treatment for moderate to severe psoriasis, is limited in clinical use due to suboptimal results and severe side effects from subcutaneous (SC) injection and oral administration. Microneedles offer a promising alternative for direct MTX delivery to targeted skin lesions, but issues such as drug wastage, dosage inaccuracy, and limited drug residence time in the lesions remain. This study introduces a tip-swellable microneedle array patch (TSMAP) using photo-cross-linked methacrylated hyaluronic acid (MeHA) and biocompatible resin for effective MTX loading and sustained delivery. A two-cast micromolding with vacuum drying is employed to concentrate cross-linked MeHA in about 30% of the needle's height at the tip, thereby ensuring that only the TSMAP tip swells. Efficient MTX loading into TSMAP tips is achieved through a 30 s drug solution immersion and 10 min drying, potentially minimizing drug waste from incomplete skin insertion due to skin elasticity. The MTX-loaded TSMAP effectively penetrates both porcine and psoriasis-like mouse skin with its tips detaching from the resin substrate and embedding deeply into the skin tissue, thereby functioning as a drug release reservoir. TSMAP significantly prolongs drug retention in skin compared with SC injection and dissolvable microneedles. The in vivo study demonstrates that TSMAP-mediated MTX delivery substantially enhances therapeutic outcomes in alleviating psoriasis symptoms and downregulating psoriasis-associated cytokines, outperforming oral administration, SC injection, and dissolvable microneedles. Thus, TSMAP could offer an efficient and user-friendly alternative for drug administration in the treatment of various skin diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Puxuan Zhao
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310014, China
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310022, China
| | - Zhiming Li
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310022, China
| | - Zhixin Ling
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310022, China
| | - Yanting Zheng
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310022, China
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Hao Chang
- Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310022, China
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Sarker S, Wang J, Shah SA, Jewell CM, Rand-Yadin K, Janowski M, Walczak P, Liang Y, Sochol RD. GEOMETRIC DETERMINANTS OF CELL VIABILITY FOR 3D-PRINTED HOLLOW MICRONEEDLE ARRAY-MEDIATED DELIVERY. PROCEEDINGS. IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MICRO ELECTRO MECHANICAL SYSTEMS 2024; 2024:429-432. [PMID: 38476775 PMCID: PMC10932570 DOI: 10.1109/mems58180.2024.10439381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
A wide range of emerging biomedical applications and clinical interventions rely on the ability to deliver living cells via hollow, high-aspect-ratio microneedles. Recently, microneedle arrays (MNA) have gained increasing interest due to inherent benefits for drug delivery; however, studies exploring the potential to harness such advantages for cell delivery have been impeded due to the difficulties in manufacturing high-aspect-ratio MNAs suitable for delivering mammalian cells. To bypass these challenges, here we leverage and extend our previously reported hybrid additive manufacturing (or "three-dimensional (3D) printing) strategy-i.e., the combined the "Vat Photopolymerization (VPP)" technique, "Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)" 3D printing with "Two-Photon Direct Laser Writing (DLW)"-to 3D print hollow MNAs that are suitable for cell delivery investigations. Specifically, we 3D printed four sets of 650 μm-tall MNAs corresponding to needle-specific inner diameters (IDs) of 25 μm, 50 μm, 75 μm, and 100 μm, and then examined the effects of these MNAs on the post-delivery viability of both dendritic cells (DCs) and HEK293 cells. Experimental results revealed that the 25 μm-ID case led to a statistically significant reduction in post-MNA-delivery cell viability for both cell types; however, MNAs with needle-specific IDs ≥ 50 μm were statistically indistinguishable from one another as well as conventional 32G single needles, thereby providing an important benchmark for MNA-mediated cell delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunandita Sarker
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Jinghui Wang
- Program in Image Guided Neurointerventions, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Shrey A Shah
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Christopher M Jewell
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | | | - Miroslaw Janowski
- Program in Image Guided Neurointerventions, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Piotr Walczak
- Program in Image Guided Neurointerventions, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yajie Liang
- Program in Image Guided Neurointerventions, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ryan D Sochol
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
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