Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Nat Biomed Eng. 2021 Sep;5(9):1008-1018. doi: 10.1038/s41551-021-00720-1. Epub 2021 May 3.
Cell therapies for the treatment of skin disorders could benefit from simple, safe and efficient technology for the transdermal delivery of therapeutic cells. Conventional cell delivery by hypodermic-needle injection is associated with poor patient compliance, requires trained personnel, generates waste and has non-negligible risks of injury and infection. Here, we report the design and proof-of-concept application of cryogenic microneedle patches for the transdermal delivery of living cells. The microneedles are fabricated by stepwise cryogenic micromoulding of cryogenic medium with pre-suspended cells, and can be easily inserted into porcine skin and dissolve after deployment of the cells. In mice, cells delivered by the cryomicroneedles retained their viability and proliferative capability. In mice with subcutaneous melanoma tumours, the delivery of ovalbumin-pulsed dendritic cells via the cryomicroneedles elicited higher antigen-specific immune responses and led to slower tumour growth than intravenous and subcutaneous injections of the cells. Biocompatible cryomicroneedles may facilitate minimally invasive cell delivery for a range of cell therapies.
用于治疗皮肤疾病的细胞疗法可能受益于用于透皮输送治疗细胞的简单、安全且高效的技术。通过皮下注射进行常规细胞输送与较差的患者依从性、需要训练有素的人员、产生废物以及不可忽视的损伤和感染风险相关。在这里，我们报告了用于透皮输送活细胞的低温微针贴片的设计和概念验证应用。微针通过低温介质与预悬浮细胞的分步低温微成型制造，并且可以容易地插入到猪皮中并且在细胞释放后溶解。在小鼠中，通过低温微针输送的细胞保持其活力和增殖能力。在患有皮下黑素瘤肿瘤的小鼠中，通过低温微针输送卵清蛋白脉冲树突状细胞引起了更高的抗原特异性免疫反应，并导致肿瘤生长速度比细胞的静脉内和皮下注射更慢。生物相容的低温微针可能促进各种细胞疗法的微创细胞输送。
