Development of Peptide Hydrogel-Loaded Core-Shell Microneedles for Subunit Vaccine Delivery

Omar Mansour – Senior Lecturer in Cosmetic Science, De Montfort University; Shokhista Tashmukhamedova – Professor, National University of Uzbekistan; Maitreyi Shivkumar – Associate Professor of Virology, De Montfort University; Mohammed Elsawy – Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Manchester; Sara Cordeiro – Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Strathclyde

Introduction:

Traditional parenteral vaccination has several limitations, including invasiveness, the risk of needle injury, and strict cold chain requirements. Transdermal microneedle (MN) vaccination is a painless alternative targeting immunocompetent skin layers¹. This research aims to develop an innovative "core-shell" MN system for antigen delivery. By utilizing self-assembling peptide hydrogels as a core matrix, sensitive protein subunit antigens can be stabilized and delivered through optimized polymeric shells^2,3.