Nature Communications (Jan 2024)

Non-invasive transdermal delivery of biomacromolecules with fluorocarbon-modified chitosan for melanoma immunotherapy and viral vaccines

  • Wenjun Zhu,
  • Ting Wei,
  • Yuchun Xu,
  • Qiutong Jin,
  • Yu Chao,
  • Jiaqi Lu,
  • Jun Xu,
  • Jiafei Zhu,
  • Xiaoying Yan,
  • Muchao Chen,
  • Qian Chen,
  • Zhuang Liu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45158-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Abstract Transdermal drug delivery has been regarded as an alternative to oral delivery and subcutaneous injection. However, needleless transdermal delivery of biomacromolecules remains a challenge. Herein, a transdermal delivery platform based on biocompatible fluorocarbon modified chitosan (FCS) is developed to achieve highly efficient non-invasive delivery of biomacromolecules including antibodies and antigens. The formed nanocomplexes exhibits effective transdermal penetration ability via both intercellular and transappendageal routes. Non-invasive transdermal delivery of immune checkpoint blockade antibodies induces stronger immune responses for melanoma in female mice and reduces systemic toxicity compared to intravenous injection. Moreover, transdermal delivery of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in female mice results in comparable humoral immunity as well as improved cellular immunity and immune memory compared to that achieved with subcutaneous vaccine injection. Additionally, FCS-based protein delivery systems demonstrate transdermal ability for rabbit and porcine skins. Thus, FCS-based transdermal delivery systems may provide a compelling opportunity to overcome the skin barrier for efficient transdermal delivery of bio-therapeutics.