2024 AIChE Annual Meeting

(720b) Epatch: An Ultra-Low-Cost Handheld Electroporator for Intradermal Delivery of mRNA

Authors

Rohilla, P. - Presenter, Texas Tech University
Prausnitz, M. R., Georgia Institute of Technology
Recent pandemic in conjunction with the significant advancements has catalyzed the widespread distribution of mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, thereby bringing nucleic acid-based vaccines to the forefront of the vaccination. As an alternative to the carrier-based delivery (e.g., lipid nanoparticles), electroporation is a physical technique which uses micro- to milli-second electric pulses to transiently permeabilize cell membranes to enhance the cellular uptake of mRNA. However, electroporation as a drug delivery technique has been limited by the constraints of commercial electroporators such as cost, portability and bulkiness. Here, we present an ultra-low-cost (<$1 USD) electricity-free handheld electroporator (ePatch) made of microneedle electrode array (MEA) and a hand-operated piezoelectric pulser.

We administered intradermal injections of luciferase-encoded naked mRNA in BALB/c mice followed by electroporation through ePatch. Using bioluminescence imaging in IVIS, we measure in vivo protein expression over a span of two weeks.

The ePatch device generated µs-long bipolar oscillatory waveforms with peak voltages ranging from ~250-300 V in ex vivo porcine skin, suggesting its suitability for in vivo electroporation. In BALB/c mice, the in vivo protein expression (AUC, area-under-the-curve over two weeks) of luciferase-encoded mRNA delivered intradermally was enhanced by ~50 times with an ePatch when compared to the tare case of no electroporation. Furthermore, the in vivo expression with an ePatch was comparable to that obtained with the electroporation via a standard commercial electroporator (cost ~$25,000) and the lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-mediated delivery of mRNA.

Electroporation via the ePatch device enhances cellular uptake of naked mRNA, as evidenced by in vivo protein expression levels comparable to those achieved with a commercial electroporator and LNP-mediated mRNA delivery. This suggests the ePatch as an effective and low-cost alternative for democratizing mRNA-based vaccination and therapeutics.