Engineering nanofibers for a novel intradermal vaccination method for whooping cough

Current delivery systems for vaccines present major logistical problems when large populations need to be vaccinated within a short time period, such as in the case of a pandemic. An efficient and effective method for pandemic vaccination is the driving force of the research performed by our group. The proposed alternative vaccination technique consists of a self-administrable patch made of electrospun nanofibers, where antigens and adjuvants are imbedded during the electrospinning process. This allows large quantities of immunogens to be encapsulated within the nanofibrous mat. This abstract describes the use of the electrospinning technique for the development of a new intradermal delivery system for biologically functional pertussis toxin (PT) to effectively vaccinate against whooping cough. The functional PT was immobilized within highly hygroscopic polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) nanofibers. To establish the efficiency of the technique to immobilize biologically functional PT, prepared patches were incubated with Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO, K1) cells. The cellular assay measures the degree of clumping of the natively attached CHO cells upon exposure to biologically functional PT. The simultaneous incubation of diluted stock and electrospun PT allowed for a direct comparison of functional PT concentration. This study has reproducibly demonstrated that approximately 80% of the total PT added to the polymer solution was successfully incorporated into the electrospun mat, and maintained biological functionality.