Spatiotemporally Orchestrated Cardiac Microneedle Patch Modulates Post-Infarction Immunity and Fibrosis

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Research
• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Myocardial infarction (MI) causes significant mortality and morbidity.
• Post-MI inflammation and fibrosis lead to long-term heart dysfunction.
• Current therapies lack targeted, phased approaches for MI recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify protective agents against hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte injury.
• To develop a smart drug delivery system for phased post-MI management.
• To mitigate both early inflammation and late fibrosis after MI.

Main Methods:

• Screening of nine metal ions, identifying magnesium (Mg2+) for cardioprotection.
• Development of a dissolvable microneedle patch (Mg-AAV-MN) with dual functional modules.
• In vivo validation of Mg-AAV-MN for targeted delivery to the heart.

Main Results:

• Mg2+ demonstrated potent protection against hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte injury and inflammation.
• The Mg-AAV-MN patch effectively delivered Mg2+ and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in a phased manner.
• In vivo studies showed reduced infarct size, improved cardiac function, and mitigated adverse remodeling.

Conclusions:

• Spatiotemporally orchestrated Mg-AAV-MN therapy offers a novel approach for comprehensive MI management.
• This system addresses limitations of single-window therapeutic strategies.
• The dual-module patch enables temporally phased and spatially confined treatment of the entire MI repair cycle.