Microneedles with an anisotropic porous microstructure facilitate the transdermal delivery of small molecules, lipid nanoparticles, and T cells

Tianli Hu; Ka Sin Lui; Eira Beryle Ko; Yayi Zhao; Qizheng Zhang; Huaxin Yang; Mengjia Zheng; Hao Chang; Baolin Guo; Allen Ka Loon Cheung; Chenjie Xu

doi:10.1016/j.matt.2025.102038

Microneedles with an anisotropic porous microstructure facilitate the transdermal delivery of small molecules, lipid nanoparticles, and T cells

Tianli Hu (Co-first Author)
, Ka Sin Lui (Co-first Author)
, Eira Beryle Ko
, Yayi Zhao
, Qizheng Zhang
, Huaxin Yang
, Mengjia Zheng
, Hao Chang
, Baolin Guo
, Allen Ka Loon Cheung^*
, Chenjie Xu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

69 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Porous microneedles (MNs) offer optimal performance for drug delivery and biofluid sampling. However, current porous MNs suffer from randomly interconnected pores, and existing fabrication methods lack control over pore diameter and orientation. This study employs a freeze-casting technique to precisely control these parameters in MNs, inspired by the anisotropic porous structure of wood xylem. This specialized microstructure enables rapid liquid absorption from the tips to the base within seconds, making it an effective tear-sampling tool to monitor tear biomarkers—a capability confirmed in rat models of dry-eye disease and diabetes. Additionally, these anisotropic porous MNs facilitate the active loading of various drugs, including γδ T cells, from the base to the tips without the need for specialized equipment. The delivery of γδ T cells via MNs has shown efficacy against tumors in both xenograft melanoma and pleural mesothelioma mouse models, presenting a novel approach to adoptive cell therapy. © 2025 The Author(s)

Original language	English
Article number	102038
Journal	Matter
Volume	8
Issue number	4
Online published	6 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102038
Publication status	Published - 2 Apr 2025

Funding

C.X. appreciates the support from the General Research Fund (GRF) from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , China ( CityU11202222 , CityU11100323 , CityU 11101324 ), and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( T2425004 ). This work was also supported by the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) ( 18170032 ), Research Grants Council Theme-based Research Scheme (TBRS, T12-712/21-R ), Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board research grant ( 2022 ), Interdisciplinary Research Matching Scheme ( RC-IRCs-1718-03 ), Faculty Research grant ( FRG2/17\u201318/066 ), Faculty Start-up fund ( SCI-17-18-01 ), Tier2 Start-up grant ( RC-SGT2/18-19/SCI/007 ), Incentive Award for External Competitive Research grants, and Research Council Start-up grant of Hong Kong Baptist University , awarded to A.K.L.C. Open Access made possible with partial support from the Open Access Publishing Fund of the City University of Hong Kong.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Research Keywords

adoptive T cell therapy
anisotropic porous structure
biomimicry
MAP 6: Development
microneedles
tear extraction

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

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10.1016/j.matt.2025.102038

279311928.pdfFinal Published version, 2.35 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

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Cite this

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title = "Microneedles with an anisotropic porous microstructure facilitate the transdermal delivery of small molecules, lipid nanoparticles, and T cells",

abstract = "Porous microneedles (MNs) offer optimal performance for drug delivery and biofluid sampling. However, current porous MNs suffer from randomly interconnected pores, and existing fabrication methods lack control over pore diameter and orientation. This study employs a freeze-casting technique to precisely control these parameters in MNs, inspired by the anisotropic porous structure of wood xylem. This specialized microstructure enables rapid liquid absorption from the tips to the base within seconds, making it an effective tear-sampling tool to monitor tear biomarkers—a capability confirmed in rat models of dry-eye disease and diabetes. Additionally, these anisotropic porous MNs facilitate the active loading of various drugs, including γδ T cells, from the base to the tips without the need for specialized equipment. The delivery of γδ T cells via MNs has shown efficacy against tumors in both xenograft melanoma and pleural mesothelioma mouse models, presenting a novel approach to adoptive cell therapy. {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s)",

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doi = "10.1016/j.matt.2025.102038",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

number = "4",

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Microneedles with an anisotropic porous microstructure facilitate the transdermal delivery of small molecules, lipid nanoparticles, and T cells. / Hu, Tianli (Co-first Author); Lui, Ka Sin (Co-first Author); Ko, Eira Beryle et al.
In: Matter, Vol. 8, No. 4, 102038, 02.04.2025.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Microneedles with an anisotropic porous microstructure facilitate the transdermal delivery of small molecules, lipid nanoparticles, and T cells

AU - Hu, Tianli

AU - Lui, Ka Sin

AU - Ko, Eira Beryle

AU - Zhao, Yayi

AU - Zhang, Qizheng

AU - Yang, Huaxin

AU - Zheng, Mengjia

AU - Chang, Hao

AU - Guo, Baolin

AU - Cheung, Allen Ka Loon

AU - Xu, Chenjie

PY - 2025/4/2

Y1 - 2025/4/2

N2 - Porous microneedles (MNs) offer optimal performance for drug delivery and biofluid sampling. However, current porous MNs suffer from randomly interconnected pores, and existing fabrication methods lack control over pore diameter and orientation. This study employs a freeze-casting technique to precisely control these parameters in MNs, inspired by the anisotropic porous structure of wood xylem. This specialized microstructure enables rapid liquid absorption from the tips to the base within seconds, making it an effective tear-sampling tool to monitor tear biomarkers—a capability confirmed in rat models of dry-eye disease and diabetes. Additionally, these anisotropic porous MNs facilitate the active loading of various drugs, including γδ T cells, from the base to the tips without the need for specialized equipment. The delivery of γδ T cells via MNs has shown efficacy against tumors in both xenograft melanoma and pleural mesothelioma mouse models, presenting a novel approach to adoptive cell therapy. © 2025 The Author(s)

AB - Porous microneedles (MNs) offer optimal performance for drug delivery and biofluid sampling. However, current porous MNs suffer from randomly interconnected pores, and existing fabrication methods lack control over pore diameter and orientation. This study employs a freeze-casting technique to precisely control these parameters in MNs, inspired by the anisotropic porous structure of wood xylem. This specialized microstructure enables rapid liquid absorption from the tips to the base within seconds, making it an effective tear-sampling tool to monitor tear biomarkers—a capability confirmed in rat models of dry-eye disease and diabetes. Additionally, these anisotropic porous MNs facilitate the active loading of various drugs, including γδ T cells, from the base to the tips without the need for specialized equipment. The delivery of γδ T cells via MNs has shown efficacy against tumors in both xenograft melanoma and pleural mesothelioma mouse models, presenting a novel approach to adoptive cell therapy. © 2025 The Author(s)

KW - adoptive T cell therapy

KW - anisotropic porous structure

KW - biomimicry

KW - MAP 6: Development

KW - microneedles

KW - tear extraction

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DO - 10.1016/j.matt.2025.102038

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 2590-2393

VL - 8

JO - Matter

JF - Matter

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M1 - 102038

ER -

Microneedles with an anisotropic porous microstructure facilitate the transdermal delivery of small molecules, lipid nanoparticles, and T cells

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

GRF: Porous Metallic Microneedle Array-Based Test Trip for Gingival Crevicular Fluid Collection and Analysis

GRF: Absorbent Microarray Eye Patches for Tear Collection & Analysis

GRF: The Second Generation of Cryomicroneedles for Transdermal Cell Delivery in Cancer Immunotherapy

Cite this

Microneedles with an anisotropic porous microstructure facilitate the transdermal delivery of small molecules, lipid nanoparticles, and T cells

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

Projects

GRF: Porous Metallic Microneedle Array-Based Test Trip for Gingival Crevicular Fluid Collection and Analysis

GRF: Absorbent Microarray Eye Patches for Tear Collection & Analysis

GRF: The Second Generation of Cryomicroneedles for Transdermal Cell Delivery in Cancer Immunotherapy

Cite this