The utility of layer-by-layer (LbL) coated microneedle (MN) skin patches for transdermal drug delivery has proven to be a promising approach, with advantages over hypodermal injection due to painless and easy self-administration. However, the long epidermal application time required for drug implantation by existing LbL MN strategies (15-90 min) can lead to potential medication noncompliance. Here, we developed a MN platform to shorten the application time in MN therapies based on a synthetic pH-induced charge-invertible polymer poly(2-(diisopropylamino) ethyl methacrylate- b-methacrylic acid) (PDM), requiring only 1 min skin insertion time to implant LbL films in vivo. Following MN-mediated delivery of 0.5 μg model antigen chicken ovalbumin (OVA) in the skin of mice, this system achieved sustained release over 3 days and led to an elevated immune response as demonstrated by significantly higher humoral immunity compared with OVA administration via conventional routes (subcutaneously and intramuscularly). Moreover, in an ex vivo experiment on human skin, we achieved efficient immune activation through MN-delivered LbL films, demonstrated by a rapid uptake of vaccine adjuvants by the antigen presenting cells. These features, rapid administration and the ability to elicit a robust immune response, can potentially enable a broad application of microneedle-based vaccination technologies.
Keywords: drug delivery; layer-by-layer assembly; microneedle; polymer synthesis; vaccine.