Biodegradable double-network GelMA-ACNM hydrogel microneedles for transdermal drug delivery

Wensheng Lin; Shixian Lin; Xingwu Zhou; Fanwen Yang; Zishan Lin; Shiqing Li; Haoyuan Zhang; Yuehan Ouyang; Jieying Zhu; Wei Sun; Dequn Huang; Baojian Liao; Jixiang Zhu

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1110604

Biodegradable double-network GelMA-ACNM hydrogel microneedles for transdermal drug delivery

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Jan 25:11:1110604. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1110604. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wensheng Lin¹, Shixian Lin¹, Xingwu Zhou², Fanwen Yang¹, Zishan Lin¹, Shiqing Li¹, Haoyuan Zhang¹, Yuehan Ouyang¹, Jieying Zhu^{1

3}, Wei Sun^{1

3}, Dequn Huang⁴, Baojian Liao^{1

3}, Jixiang Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Qingyuan People's Hospital, School of Biomedical Engineering, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
³ Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, South China Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

As a minimally invasive drug delivery platform, microneedles (MNs) overcome many drawbacks of the conventional transdermal drug delivery systems, therefore are favorable in biomedical applications. Microneedles with a combined burst and sustained release profile and maintained therapeutic molecular bioactivity could further broaden its applications as therapeutics. Here, we developed a double-network microneedles (DN MNs) based on gelatin methacrylate and acellular neural matrix (GelMA-ACNM). ACNM could function as an early drug release matrix, whereas the addition of GelMA facilitates sustained drug release. In particular, the double-network microneedles comprising GelMA-ACNM hydrogel has distinctive biological features in maintaining drug activity to meet the needs of application in treating different diseases. In this study, we prepared the double-network microneedles and evaluated its morphology, mechanical properties, drug release properties and biocompatibility, which shows great potential for delivery of therapeutic molecules that needs different release profiles in transdermal treatment.

Keywords: acellular neural matrix; gelatin methacrylate; microneedles; physicochemical cocrosslinking; transdermal drug delivery.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82272160), the Guangdong Postgraduate Education Innovation Program and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (2021A1515220179).