Sublingual Dissolving Microneedle (SLDMN)-Based Vaccine for Inducing Mucosal Immunity against SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the development of next-generation vaccination technology to combat future pandemic outbreaks. Mucosal vaccination effectively protects the mucosal surfaces, the primary sites of viral entry, by inducing the secretion of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and humoral IgG. Here, a dissolving microneedle (DMN) is adopted as a mucosal vaccine delivery platform to directly penetrate the sublingual site, which is rich in antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and lymphoid tissues. The sublingual dissolving microneedle (SLDMN) vaccination platform comprised a micropillar-based compartment and a 3D-printed SLDMN applicator as a substitute for the DMN patch. The penetration efficacy of SLDMNs is assessed using in vitro optical coherence tomography (OCT) and in vivo histological analysis. The efficacy of SLDMN is also evaluated in a vaccine form using the recombinant spike (S1) protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Furthermore, SLDMN is used to challenge transgenic mice expressing human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptors. Its effects are evaluated on antibody production, survival rate, and inflammation attenuation after infection compared to the intramuscular (IM) injections. Overall, SLDMN effectively induced mucosal immunity via IgA secretion, attenuated lung inflammation, and lowered the levels of cytokines and chemokines, which may prevent the "cytokine storm" after SARS-CoV-2 infection.