Development of a Lift-Off Intradermal Cancer Vaccine Release System Using Electrostatic Assembly

Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in men and sixth in women and incidence rates have grown rapidly over the past 30 years.¹ The field of cancer immunotherapy has been recognized as a promising approach to treat this disease, but improvements in response rates are needed to make this treatment more effective for patients.² A melanoma vaccine consisting of a nucleic acid adjuvant and protein immunogen is a treatment that can trigger an immune response to cancer. Microneedle technology enables vaccines to be delivered directly to the skin where critical immune cells reside, potentially improving the elicited response.^{3, 4} A vaccine can be constructed on the microneedle surface using layer-by-layer assembly, which utilizes the electrostatic attraction between charged materials to create a polymeric film that degrades over time.⁴ Our team investigated layer-by-layer assembled silicon chip vaccines and tested them in vitro to determine the ideal adjuvant type and influence of film formulation on release kinetics and the stimulated response. Using a tetralayer formulation, sustained release of an RNA adjuvant and a strong immune response was achieved.Future work will involve the translation of the studied films to microneedles and examine their in vivo response.

References

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3. Glenn, G. M.; Kenney, R. T., In Mass Vaccination: Solutions in the Skin. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2006, pp. 247-268.
4. DeMuth, P. C.; Min, Y.; Huang, B.; Kramer, J. A.; Miller, A. D.; Barouch, D. H.; Hammond, P. T.; Irvine, D. J., Polymer multilayer tattooing for enhanced DNA vaccination. Nature materials2013, 12 (4), 367-376.