1. Dissolving Microneedle Delivery of a Prophylactic HPV Vaccine
- Author
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Sayoni Ray, David M. Wirth, Oscar A. Ortega-Rivera, Nicole F. Steinmetz, and Jonathan K. Pokorski
- Subjects
and promotion of well-being ,Polymers and Plastics ,Polymers ,Bioengineering ,Cervical Cancer ,Antibodies, Viral ,Antibodies ,Article ,Vaccine Related ,Biomaterials ,Epitopes ,Mice ,Engineering ,Materials Chemistry ,Animals ,Humans ,Viral ,Papillomavirus Vaccines ,Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle ,Inbred BALB C ,Cancer ,Vaccines ,Mice, Inbred BALB C ,Prevention ,Papillomavirus Infections ,Biological Sciences ,Prevention of disease and conditions ,Virus-Like Particle ,Infectious Diseases ,Good Health and Well Being ,3.4 Vaccines ,Chemical Sciences ,Sexually Transmitted Infections ,HIV/AIDS ,Immunization ,Capsid Proteins ,HPV and/or Cervical Cancer Vaccines ,Infection ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Prophylactic vaccines capable of preventing human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are still inaccessible to a vast majority of the global population due to their high cost and challenges related to multiple administrations performed in a medical setting. In an effort to improve distribution and administration, we have developed dissolvable microneedles loaded with a thermally stable HPV vaccine candidate consisting of Qβ virus-like particles (VLPs) displaying a highly conserved epitope from the L2 protein of HPV (Qβ-HPV). Polymeric microneedle delivery of Qβ-HPV produces similar amounts of anti-HPV16 L2 IgG antibodies compared to traditional subcutaneous injection while delivering a much smaller amount of intradermal dose. However, a dose sparing effect was found. Furthermore, immunization yielded neutralizing antibody responses in a HPV pseudovirus assay. The vaccine candidate was confirmed to be stable at room temperature after storage for several months, potentially mitigating many of the challenges associated with cold-chain distribution. The ease of self-administration and minimal invasiveness of such microneedle patch vaccines may enable wide-scale distribution of the HPV vaccine and lead to higher patient compliance. The Qβ VLP and its delivery technology is a plug-and-play system that could serve as a universal platform with a broad range of applications. Qβ VLPs may be stockpiled for conjugation to a wide range of epitopes, which are then packaged and delivered directly to the patient via noninvasive microneedle patches. Such a system paves the way for rapid distribution and self-administration of vaccines.
- Published
- 2022