The title of a Netflix documentary, “My Octopus Teacher,” is more than just a catchy name. Octopuses’ suckers have inspired scientists to devise a method for delivering drugs deep into the skin, eliminating the need for injections. This innovative approach has been successfully tested in animals and shows promise for hastening the journey toward commercial availability. Furthermore, the concept of octopus-sucker-inspired gloves holds the potential for improving grip in slippery conditions, such as in surgical settings or underwater explorations.
South Korean scientists are at the forefront of this research, specifically researchers Pang Chang-hyun from the School of Chemical Engineering and Kim Ki-hyun from the School of Pharmacy at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU). Together, they have developed a drug delivery patch that emulates the structure of an octopus sucker. This patch has been tested for safety and efficacy on animal and human skin. Their groundbreaking work was featured as the cover article in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Nano journal, published online on Jan. 22. The lead author of this paper is Lee Ji-hyun, a Ph.D. student from the same university.
Traditionally, delivering drugs through the skin has been limited in effectiveness due to the skin’s protective role, which naturally resists the penetration of foreign substances. This barrier is particularly formidable at the stratum corneum layer.
To overcome this, the team devised an adsorption cup inspired by the intricate structure of octopus suckers aimed at altering the skin’s stratum corneum to allow deeper penetration of drugs. This concept builds on Professor Pang’s earlier discovery, published in Nature in 2017, which revealed that the unique three-dimensional dome structure within the octopus sucker plays a crucial role in these adhesive capabilities. This structure is characterized by small, round protrusions inside the dome, reminiscent of balls within a cup.
The newly developed adsorption cup replicates this dome-shaped structure. When applied to a surface, it displaces water while allowing some to rise along the sides of the protrusions. Upon release, a vacuum is created between the protrusions and the surface, generating a suction effect due to the negative pressure environment.
The innovative patch incorporates a suction cup with a 3-millimeter diameter, enabling deeper drug penetration into the skin by altering the structure of the stratum corneum through negative pressure. This process was observed under a transmission electron microscope, revealing the formation of microscopic spaces within the stratum corneum that facilitate deeper drug delivery.
The efficacy of this technology was demonstrated in mice with induced skin conditions, where the patch’s ability to deliver therapeutic agents resulted in significant skin improvement after 28 days, surpassing the effectiveness of topical drug application alone. The successful application of this method to human skin was also confirmed.
This research also involved contributions from Professor Kim Su-nam from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Natural Products Research Institute, Professor Kim Jin-woong from SKKU’s School of Chemical Engineering, and Professor Yi Gi-Ra from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). According to Pang, the potential applications of the octopus-sucker-inspired patch extend beyond medical treatments to include cosmetic products. The technology behind the drug delivery patch has been licensed to Mimetics, a startup based at SKKU, which is currently working towards its commercialization.
References
ACS Nano(2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c09304
Science Translational Medicine(2023), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abq1887
Science Advances(2022), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq1905
Nature(2017), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22382
Advanced Materials(2016), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201601407
