Dissolving microneedles for DNA vaccination: Improving functionality via polymer characterization and RALA complexation

Bibliographic Details
Title: Dissolving microneedles for DNA vaccination: Improving functionality via polymer characterization and RALA complexation
Authors: Grace Cole, Joanne McCaffrey, Ahlam A. Ali, John W. McBride, Cian M. McCrudden, Eva M. Vincente-Perez, Ryan F. Donnelly, Helen O. McCarthy
Source: Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, Vol 13, Iss 1, Pp 50-62 (2017)
Publisher Information: Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.
Publication Year: 2017
Collection: LCC:Immunologic diseases. Allergy
LCC:Therapeutics. Pharmacology
Subject Terms: dna vaccine, microneedle, nanoparticle, pva, rala, Immunologic diseases. Allergy, RC581-607, Therapeutics. Pharmacology, RM1-950
More Details: DNA vaccination holds the potential to treat or prevent nearly any immunogenic disease, including cancer. To date, these vaccines have demonstrated limited immunogenicity in vivo due to the absence of a suitable delivery system which can protect DNA from degradation and improve transfection efficiencies in vivo. Recently, microneedles have been described as a novel physical delivery technology to enhance DNA vaccine immunogenicity. Of these devices, dissolvable microneedles promise a safe, pain-free delivery system which may simultaneously improve DNA stability within a solid matrix and increase DNA delivery compared to solid arrays. However, to date little work has directly compared the suitability of different dissolvable matrices for formulation of DNA-loaded microneedles. Therefore, the current study examined the ability of 4 polymers to formulate mechanically robust, functional DNA loaded dissolvable microneedles. Additionally, complexation of DNA to a cationic delivery peptide, RALA, prior to incorporation into the dissolvable matrix was explored as a means to improve transfection efficacies following release from the polymer matrix. Our data demonstrates that DNA is degraded following incorporation into PVP, but not PVA matrices. The complexation of DNA to RALA prior to incorporation into polymers resulted in higher recovery from dissolvable matrices, and increased transfection efficiencies in vitro. Additionally, RALA/DNA nanoparticles released from dissolvable PVA matrices demonstrated up to 10-fold higher transfection efficiencies than the corresponding complexes released from PVP matrices, indicating that PVA is a superior polymer for this microneedle application.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2164-5515
2164-554X
21645515
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2164-5515; https://doaj.org/toc/2164-554X
DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2016.1248008
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/34001c2764484bf090f282e497651d6e
Accession Number: edsdoj.34001c2764484bf090f282e497651d6e
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:21645515
2164554X
DOI:10.1080/21645515.2016.1248008
Published in:Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
Language:English