ABSTRACT
The identification of an effective and tolerable delivery method is a necessity for the success of DNA vaccines in the clinic. This article describes the development and validation of a multi-headed intradermal electroporation device which would be applicable for delivering multiple DNA vaccine plasmids simultaneously but spatially separated. Reporter gene plasmids expressing green and red fluorescent proteins were used to demonstrate the impact of spatial separation on DNA delivery to increase the number of transfected cells and avoid interference through visible expression patterns. To investigate the impact of plasmid interference on immunogenicity, a disease target was investigated where issues with multi-valent vaccines had been previously described. DNA-based Hantaan and Puumala virus vaccines were delivered separately or as a combination and the effect of multi-valence was determined by appropriate assays. While a negative impact was observed for both antigenic vaccines when delivered together, these effects were mitigated when the vaccine was delivered using the multi-head device. We also demonstrate how the multi-head device facilitates higher dose delivery to the skin resulting in improved immune responses. This new multi-head platform device is an efficient, tolerable and non-invasive method to deliver multiple plasmid DNA constructs simultaneously allowing the tailoring of delivery sites for combination vaccines. Additionally, this device would allow the delivery of multi-plasmid vaccine formulations without risk of impacted immune responses through interference. Such a low-cost, easy to use device platform for the delivery of multi-agent DNA vaccines would have direct applications by the military and healthcare sectors for mass vaccination purposes.
Subject(s)
Electroporation/instrumentation , Electroporation/methods , Vaccines, DNA/administration & dosage , Viral Vaccines/administration & dosage , Animals , Female , Guinea Pigs , Hantaan virus/genetics , Hantaan virus/immunology , Injections, Intradermal , Mesocricetus , Plasmids/administration & dosage , Puumala virus/genetics , Puumala virus/immunology , Vaccines, DNA/immunology , Viral Vaccines/immunologyABSTRACT
The identification of an effective and tolerable delivery method is a necessity for the success of DNA vaccines in the clinic. This manuscript describes the development and validation of a multi-headed intradermal electroporation device which would be applicable for delivering multiple DNA vaccine plasmids simultaneously but spatially separated. Reporter gene plasmids expressing green and red fluorescent proteins were used to demonstrate the impact of spatial separation on DNA delivery to increase the number of transfected cells and avoid interference through visible expression patterns. To investigate the impact of plasmid interference on immunogenicity, a disease target was investigated where issues with multi-valent vaccines had been previously described. DNA-based Hantaan and Puumala virus vaccines were delivered separately or as a combination and the effect of multi-valence was determined by appropriate assays. While a negative impact was observed for both antigenic vaccines when delivered together, these effects were mitigated when the vaccine was delivered using the multi-head device. We also demonstrate how the multi-head device facilitates higher dose delivery to the skin resulting in improved immune responses. This new multi-head platform device is an efficient, tolerable and non-invasive method to deliver multiple plasmid DNA constructs simultaneously allowing the tailoring of delivery sites for combination vaccines. Additionally, this device would allow the delivery of multi-plasmid vaccine formulations without risk of impacted immune responses through interference. Such a low-cost, easy to use device platform for the delivery of multi-agent DNA vaccines would have direct applications by the military and healthcare sectors for mass vaccination purposes.
Subject(s)
Drug Delivery Systems/instrumentation , Drug Delivery Systems/methods , Electroporation/instrumentation , Vaccines, DNA/administration & dosage , Viral Vaccines/administration & dosage , Administration, Cutaneous , Animals , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , Cricetinae , Electroporation/methods , Genes, Reporter/genetics , Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics , Guinea Pigs , Hantaan virus/immunology , Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome/immunology , Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome/prevention & control , Injections, Intradermal/methods , Luminescent Proteins/genetics , Plasmids/genetics , Puumala virus/immunology , Skin , Vaccination/methods , Vaccines, DNA/immunology , Vaccines, DNA/therapeutic use , Viral Vaccines/immunology , Red Fluorescent ProteinABSTRACT
Hollow/porous nanoparticles, including nanocarriers, nanoshells, and mesoporous materials have applications in catalysis, photonics, biosensing, and delivery of theranostic agents. Using a hierarchical template synthesis scheme, we have synthesized a nanocarrier mimicking a golf ball, consisting of (i) solid silica core with a pitted gold surface and (ii) a hollow/porous gold shell without silica. The template consisted of 100 nm polystyrene beads attached to a larger silica core. Selective gold plating of the core followed by removal of the polystyrene beads produced a golf ball-like nanostructure with 100 nm pits. Dissolution of the silica core produced a hollow/porous golf ball-like nanostructure.
