title: An electrically active microneedle array for electroporation.
abstract: We have designed and fabricated a microneedle array with electrical functionality with the final goal of electroporating skin's epidermal cells to increase their transfection by DNA vaccines. The microneedle array was made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) by micromolding technology from a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold, followed by metal deposition, patterning using laser ablation, and electrodeposition. This microneedle array possessed sufficient mechanical strength to penetrate human skin in vivo and was also able to electroporate both red blood cells and human prostate cancer cells as an in vitro model to demonstrate cell membrane permeabilization. A computational model to predict the effective volume for electroporation with respect to applied voltages was constructed from finite element simulation. This study demonstrates the mechanical and electrical functionalities of the first MEMS-fabricated microneedle array for electroporation, designed for DNA vaccine delivery.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
authors.forename: Seong-O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Yeu Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jung-Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hutcheson
authors.forename: Harvinder S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Yong-Kyu
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Prausnitz
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D018274:Electroporation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D012867:Skin / Q000276:immunology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D019444:Vaccines, DNA