A transcutaneous vaccination system using a hydrogel patch for viral and bacterial infection

One of the most important anthropic missions is preventing the global spread of infectious diseases. Vaccination is the only available preventive treatment for infectious diseases, but the availability of vaccines in developing countries is not adequate. We report a simple, easy-to-use, noninvasive hydrogel patch transcutaneous vaccination system. Antigen (Ag)-specific IgG production was induced by applying an Ag-immersed patch to non-pretreated mouse auricle or hairless rat back skin. Immunofluorescence histochemical analysis revealed that Langerhans cells resident in the epidermal layer captured the antigenic proteins delivered by the hydrogel patch, which promoted the penetration of antigenic proteins through the stratum corneum, and that Ag-capturing Langerhans cells migrated into draining lymph nodes. Humoral immunity elicited by our transcutaneous vaccination system demonstrated neutralizing activity in both adenoviral infection and passive-challenge tetanus toxin experiments. The use of this hydrogel patch transcutaneous vaccination system will facilitate the global distribution of effective and convenient vaccines. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.