An update on the use of laser technology in skin vaccination

Abstract

Vaccination via skin often induces stronger immune responses than via muscle. This, in line with potential needle-free, painless delivery, makes skin a very attractive site for immunization. Yet, despite decades of effort, effective skin delivery is still in its infant stage and safe and potent adjuvants for skin vaccination remain largely undefined. We have shown that laser technologies including both fractional and non-fractional lasers can greatly augment vaccine-induced immune response without incurring any significant local and systemic side effects. Laser illumination at specific settings can accelerate the motility of antigen-presenting cells or trigger release of ‘danger’ signals stimulating the immune system. Moreover, several other groups including the authors explore laser technologies for needle-free transcutaneous vaccine delivery. As these laser-mediated resurfacing technologies are convenient, safe and cost-effective, their new applications in vaccination warrant clinical studies in the very near future.

Keywords::

• adjuvant
• intradermal injection
• laser
• skin vaccination
• stratum corneum
• transcutaneous delivery
• vaccine

Financial & competing interest disclosure

This work is supported in part by the National Institutes of Health grants AI070785 and RC1 DA028378 (to MX Wu), Bullock-Wellman Fellowship, and A Ward Ford Memorial Research Grant #NSP0511 from American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (to X Chen). X Chen, D Shah, J Wang. designs and performs the experiments, analyzes the data. X Chen and J Wang prepare the manuscript. MX Wu participates in data analysis and experimental design and writes the paper. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• • Novel adjuvants with minimal reactogenicity and potent adjuvanticity are highly demanded.

• • A short-term laser illumination is able to safely and efficiently enhance vaccine-induced immune response and serves as a novel physical type vaccine adjuvant.

• • Non-fractional laser vaccine adjuvant (LVA) enhances immune response by modification of dermal tissue scaffolds and enhancement of APC migration and antigen uptake, without incurring damage of the skin cells.

• • Fractional LVA enhances immune response by damage of a well-defined number of skin cells that provoke sterile inflammation transiently.

• • Needle-free, painless transcutaneous vaccine delivery technologies are fast emerging.

• • Various laser technologies have been explored to facilitate transcutaneous vaccine delivery and DNA immunization with distinct advantages.

• • Ablative fractional laser has been explored by several groups to safely and efficiently enhance transcutaneous vaccine delivery.

• • Fabrication of a cost-effective, handheld laser device that can integrate vaccine delivery and adjuvantation is highly anticipated for its clinical application.

Notes