US20140287043A1 - Compositions and methods for stabilization of active agents - Google Patents

Compositions and methods for stabilization of active agents Download PDF

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US20140287043A1
US20140287043A1 US14/112,769 US201214112769A US2014287043A1 US 20140287043 A1 US20140287043 A1 US 20140287043A1 US 201214112769 A US201214112769 A US 201214112769A US 2014287043 A1 US2014287043 A1 US 2014287043A1
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vaccine
composition
silk
virus
immunogen
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David L. Kaplan
Fiorenzo Omenetto
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Tufts University
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Tufts University
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Assigned to TRUSTEES OF TUFTS COLLEGE reassignment TRUSTEES OF TUFTS COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: KAPLAN, DAVID L., OMENETTO, FIORENZO
Publication of US20140287043A1 publication Critical patent/US20140287043A1/en
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Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to methods and compositions for stabilization of active agents.
  • Stabilization of active agents is a critical feature of many applications, because the active agents are usually labile and sensitive to changes in surrounding conditions, e.g., temperature, humidity and/or light. Even if an active agent is identified to be useful for a given reaction, its application is often hampered by a lack of long-term stability under process conditions.
  • the microenvironment of the carrier material may be engineered by using blocking agents to reduce non-specific binding sites.
  • hydrophilic macromolecules may be introduced proximal to the active agent, or hydrophilic spacers used between the active agent and the material surface.
  • sol-gel materials have been used for immobilization and found to enhance the activity of enzymes, e.g., lipases, up to 100-fold due to the effects of microenvironmental confinement.
  • cross-linked enzyme crystals have been combined with protein crystallization to generate cross-linked enzyme crystals (CLECs) with increased enzyme stability and selectivity when compared to the native enzyme. While this method has been used by pharmaceutical companies to formulate therapeutic protein drugs, protein crystallization is complicated and often unpredictable.
  • Cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) can be obtained by precipitation of proteins followed by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. The CLEA from penicillin acylase had the same activity as a CLEC in the synthesis of ampicillin.
  • Magnetic nanoparticles have also been used for covalent immobilization of enzymes and thus enhancement of enzyme stability. Yet none of these immobilization methods are biocompatible/biodegradable or simple to use while providing stability under ambient storage conditions (e.g., room temperature) for long periods of time.
  • Mumps is associated with aseptic meningitis, deafness and orchitis; and rubella during pregnancy may cause congenital rubella syndrome in the infants of infected mothers.
  • the impact of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination on the natural history of each disease in the U.S. can be quantified by comparing the maximum number of measles, mumps, and rubella cases reported in a given year prior to vaccine use to the number of cases of each disease reported in 1995.
  • Vaccines are biological substances that may lose their effectiveness quickly if they become too hot or too cold, especially during transport and storage. Inadvertent freezing, heating above 8° C. or other breaks in the cold chain may result in either failure of efficacy or vaccine wastage.
  • WHO World Health Organization
  • the U.S. alone will have contributed $35 billion for global vaccination programs. About one third will be spent on vaccines and remainder will be spent on vaccine delivery systems. It is clear that even 1% vaccine wastage because of cold chain failure is a considerable sum. Indeed, for five U.S. states, the average wastage of 1% to 5% cost approximately $6-$31 million. In other parts of the world, vaccine wastage can reach 10%.
  • a storage-stable composition comprising a silk fibroin matrix and an active agent distributed therein, wherein the active agent retains at least about 30% of its original bioactivity when the composition is subjected to at least one state-changing cycle, and/or is maintained for a period of time under a specified condition.
  • the state-changing cycle is a freeze-thaw cycle.
  • the period of time for maintaining the active agent is at least about 24 hours.
  • the specified condition can be an environmental condition under which an active agent is stored and/or transported. Non-limiting examples of environmental conditions include temperatures, air pressures, humidity, and light exposure.
  • the active agent is an immunogen.
  • the active agent is a vaccine.
  • Kits and delivery devices e.g., useful in biomedical fields, are also provided herein.
  • Exemplary delivery devices include, but are not limited to, syringes, dry powder injectors, nasal sprays, nebulizers, and implants.
  • Such kits and devices comprise a storage-stable composition described herein, and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable solution.
  • the kit further includes at least one delivery device for administering to a subject a storage-stable composition described herein, and/or a disinfectant.
  • FIGS. 6A-6D present comparisons of residual potency of reconstituted MMR vaccine in water at 4° C. ( FIG. 6A ) or 37° C. ( FIG. 6C ), or 70% sucrose at 4° C. ( FIG. 6B ) or 37° C. ( FIG. 6D ).
  • FIG. 7 shows a schematic of vaccine-encapsulated silk film fabrication and infectivity assay.
  • (1) Lyophilized vaccine powder is reconstituted in sterilized aqueous silk solution.
  • (2a) Vaccine-encapsulated silk films were prepared by casting an aliquot of the vaccine-silk mixture onto a Teflon-coated surface and allowed to dry in a sterile hood for 12 hours at room temperature, protected from light.
  • FIGS. 9A-9D show graphs of the stability of the measles virus component of the MMR vaccine stored in 9% (w/v) silk films over 6 months at 4° C. ( FIG. 9A ), 25° C. ( FIG. 9B ), 37° C. ( FIG. 9C ), and 45° C. ( FIG. 9D ).
  • N 3, error bars represent standard deviations.
  • FIGS. 10A-10D show graphs of the stability of the mumps virus component of the MMR vaccine stored in 9% (w/v) silk films over 6 months at 4° C. ( FIG. 10A ), 25° C. ( FIG. 10B ), 37° C. ( FIG. 10C ), and 45° C. ( FIG. 10D ).
  • FIG. 10A MMR-silk films.
  • ⁇ MMR powder.
  • N 3, error bars represent standard deviations.
  • FIGS. 11A to 11D shows graphs of the stability of the rubella virus component of the MMR vaccine stored in 9% (w/v) silk films over 6 months at 4° C. ( FIG. 11A ), 25° C. ( FIG. 11B ), 37° C. ( FIG. 11C ), and 45° C. ( FIG. 11D ).
  • N 3, error bars represent standard deviations.
  • FIGS. 12A to 12D show graphs of the stability of the measles virus component of the MMR vaccine stored in 9% (w/v) lyophilized silk films over 6 months at 4° C. ( FIG. 12A ), 25° C. ( FIG. 12B ), 37° C. ( FIG. 12C ), and 45° C. ( FIG. 12D ).
  • ( ⁇ ) MMR powder. N 3, error bars represent standard deviations.
  • FIGS. 13A-13D show graphs of the stability of the mumps virus component of the MMR vaccine stored in 9% (w/v) lyophilized silk films over 6 months at 4° C. ( FIG. 13A ), 25° C. ( FIG. 13B ), 37° C. ( FIG. 13C ), and 45° C. ( FIG. 13D ).
  • ( ⁇ ) MMR powder. N 3, error bars represent standard deviations.
  • FIGS. 14A-14D show graphs of the stability of the rubella virus component of the MMR vaccine stored in 9% (w/v) lyophilized silk films over 6 months at 4° C. ( FIG. 14A ), 25° C. ( FIG. 14B ), 37° C. ( FIG. 14C ), and 45° C. ( FIG. 14D ).
  • ( ⁇ ) MMR powder. N 3, error bars represent standard deviations.
  • FIGS. 15A-15C show Arrhenius plots of the degradation rates of the measles ( FIG. 15A ), mumps ( FIG. 15B ) and rubella ( FIG. 15C ) components of the vaccine as a function of the inverse of the absolute temperature.
  • ⁇ lyophilized silk films,
  • ⁇ silk films,
  • ⁇ powder.
  • FIGS. 16A-16C show graphs of the predicted half-lives of the measles ( FIG. 16A ), mumps ( FIG. 16B ) and rubella ( FIG. 16C ) viral components as a function of temperature and the corresponding upper and lower limits of the half-life.
  • the predicted half-lives represent the estimated time required for the viral component to degrade to 50% of the initial value.
  • FIG. 17 shows a graph of differential scanning calorimetry, solid-state DSC.
  • Solid-state DSC of a lyophilized silk film shows glass transition (Tg) at 178° C.
  • Tg glass transition
  • the Tg of the manufacturer provided MMR vaccine powder (containing a wide variety of excipients and stabilizers) was 68.9° C.
  • the lyophilized MMR-silk films showed a Tg at 89.2° C., indicating the addition of silk to the MMR powder increased stability of the vaccine reflected in the increased Tg.
  • the MMR-silk lyophilized film curve however, showed two peaks at 116.6° C. and 164.8° C. which could indicate a Tm and Td, describing the unfolding or degradation of vaccine components.
  • FIG. 18 shows a graph of nano differential scanning calorimetry, nano-DSC.
  • the Tm of purified viral particles appears around 16.8° C.
  • the presence of silk increases the Tm of the viral particles to 68.3° C.
  • the sharp drop following the Tm is an exothermic event most likely due to aggregation as a result of the protein unfolding at the Tm.
  • the Tg of silk was around 178° C. so the elevated Tg values were due to the effect silk has on the encapsulated viral proteins.
  • FIG. 19 shows a graph indicating comparison of dynamic light scattering of purified viral particles in water and purified viral particles in silk solution.
  • the average mean effective diameter of MMR viral particles was about 250 nm.
  • the mean effective diameter of the purified MMR solution began increasing at around 16° C., indicating aggregation of viral particles due to the increased thermal input.
  • the MMR-silk solution did not show signs of aggregation until 70° C., indicating silk provided the structural stability to prevent the aggregation of the viral proteins.
  • FIGS. 22A-22D show schematic diagrams.
  • FIG. 22A measles and mumps belong to the Paramyxoviridae family and their structures consist of single-stranded, negative-sense RNA enclosed in nucleocapsids within a lipid bilayer.
  • the viral envelop is formed by the matrix protein (M), haemaglutinin protein (H) and fusion protein (F). Structurally intact H and F proteins are responsible for binding and fusion of the viral particles to the animal cells.
  • FIG. 22B by a combination of hydrophobic interaction and limited chain mobility, silk-entrapped viral particles maintain structural activity at elevated temperatures.
  • FIG. 22C the F and H proteins binding to the receptors CD46 and CD150 (collectively known as SLAM) to gain entry into the cell to initiate viral replication.
  • FIG. 22D denaturation of the surface proteins can cause aggregation of the viral particles. The perturbation of the proteins can cause it to be unrecognized by the cell and denied entry.
  • One aspect provided herein relates to methods and compositions of maintaining or stabilizing the bioactivity of an active agent.
  • the method includes maintaining a composition, wherein the composition comprises a silk fibroin matrix and at least one active agent distributed, mixed, or embedded therein, and wherein the at least one active agent retains or stabilizes at least about 30% of its original bioactivity when the composition is subjected to a specified condition, which inhibits or reduces the bioactivity of the active agent, for a period of time.
  • a specified condition which inhibits or reduces the bioactivity of the active agent, for a period of time.
  • Such conditions can include, but are not limited to, a state-changing cycle, temperatures, air pressures, humidity, and light exposure.
  • the state-changing cycle is a freeze-thaw cycle.
  • Embodiments of various aspects described herein provide for stabilized active agents, in which stabilization of an active agent is achieved by distributing, mixing, or embedding an active agent in a silk fibroin matrix.
  • the silk fibroin matrix can be a silk fibroin solution or a solid-state silk fibroin matrix.
  • This approach provides for the active agent to retain bioactivity regardless of the cold chain and/or environmental conditions under which the active agent is stored and/or transported.
  • Exemplary environmental conditions include, but are not limited to, temperatures, air pressures, humidity, and light exposure.
  • the cold chain is a standard practice for stabilizing active agents in the pharmaceutical industry: maintaining the cold chain ensures that active agents are transported and stored according to the manufacturer's recommended temp range (e.g., 2° C. to 8° C. or sub-zero temperatures) until time of use.
  • the active agents described herein are immunogens.
  • the immunogen is a vaccine.
  • Most vaccines are sensitive to environmental conditions under which they are stored and/or transported. For example, freezing may increase reactogenicity (e.g., capability of causing an immunological reaction) and/or loss of potency for some vaccines (e.g., HepB, and DTaP/IPV/HIB), or cause hairline cracks in the container, leading to contamination.
  • some vaccines e.g., BCG, Varicella , and MMR
  • Many vaccines e.g., BCG, MMR, Varicella , Meningococcal C Conjugate, and most DTaP-containing vaccines) are light-sensitive.
  • compositions and methods described herein also provide for stabilization of vaccines regardless of the cold chain and/or other environmental conditions.
  • stabilizing in reference to maintaining or retaining bioactivity of at least one active agent in a silk fibroin matrix.
  • stabilization of active agents means that one or more active agents distributed, mixed or embedded in a silk fibroin matrix retain at least about 30% of its original bioactivity, including at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90% of its original bioactivity or higher.
  • stabilize and retain in reference to bioactivity of active agents are used herein interchangeably.
  • the terms “maintaining,” “maintain,” and “maintenance,” when referring to compositions or active agents mean keeping, sustaining, or retaining the bioactivity of at least one active agent in a silk fibroin matrix, when the active agent is subjected to certain conditions.
  • one or more active agents distributed in a silk fibroin matrix retains at least about 30% of its original bioactivity, including at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90% of its original bioactivity or higher.
  • bioactivity generally refers to the ability of an active agent to interact with a biological target and/or to produce an effect on a biological target.
  • bioactivity can include, without limitation, elicitation of a stimulatory, inhibitory, regulatory, toxic or lethal response in a biological target.
  • the biological target can be a molecule or a cell.
  • a bioactivity can refer to the ability of an active agent to modulate the effect/activity of an enzyme, block a receptor, stimulate a receptor, modulate the expression level of one or more genes, modulate cell proliferation, modulate cell division, modulate cell morphology, or any combination thereof.
  • a bioactivity can refer to the ability of a compound to produce a toxic effect in a cell.
  • the bioactivity can be determined by assaying a cellular response.
  • exemplary cellular responses include, but are not limited to, lysis, apoptosis, growth inhibition, and growth promotion; production, secretion, and surface exposure of a protein or other molecule of interest by the cell; membrane surface molecule activation including receptor activation; transmembrane ion transports; transcriptional regulations; changes in viability of the cell; changes in cell morphology; changes in presence or expression of an internal component of the cell; changes in presence or expression of a nucleic acid produced within the cell; changes in the activity of an enzyme produced within the cell; and changes in the presence or expression of a receptor.
  • Methods for assaying different cellular responses are well known to one of skill in the art, e.g., western blot for determining changes in presence or expression of an endogenous protein of the cell, or microscopy for monitoring the cell morphology in response to the active agent.
  • bioactivity includes, but is not limited to, epitope or antigen binding affinity, the in vivo and/or in vitro stability of the antibody, the immunogenic properties of the antibody, e.g., when administered to a human subject, and/or the ability to neutralize or antagonize the bioactivity of a target molecule in vivo or in vitro.
  • the aforementioned properties or characteristics can be observed or measured using art-recognized techniques including, but not limited to, scintillation proximity assays, ELISA, ORIGEN immunoassay (IGEN), fluorescence quenching, fluorescence ELISA, competitive ELISA, SPR analysis including, but not limited to, SPR analysis using a BIAcore biosenser, in vitro and in vivo neutralization assays (see, for example, International Publication No. WO 2006/062685), receptor binding, and immunohistochemistry with tissue sections from different sources including human, primate, or any other source as needed.
  • the “bioactivity” includes immunogenicity, the definition of which is discussed in detail later.
  • the “bioactivity” includes infectivity, the definition of which is discussed in detail later.
  • the “bioactivity” refers to the ability of a contrast agent when administered to a subject to enhance the contrast of structures or fluids within the subject's body.
  • the bioactivity of a contrast agent also includes, but is not limited to, its ability to interact with a biological environment and/or influence the response of another molecule under certain conditions.
  • original bioactivity in reference to an active agent is generally meant the bioactivity of an active agent as measured immediately before or immediately after the active agent is introduced into a silk fibroin matrix. That is, the original bioactivity of an active agent can be measured, for example, within about 20 minutes, before or after the active agent is introduced into a silk fibroin matrix.
  • the original bioactivity of an active agent can be measured, for example, about 10 seconds, about 15 seconds, about 20 seconds, about 25 seconds, about 30 seconds, about 1 minute, about 2 minutes, about 3 minutes, about 4 minutes, about 5 minutes, about 6 minutes, about 7 minutes, about 8 minutes, about 9 minutes, about 10 minutes, about 11 minutes, about 12 minutes, about 13 minutes, about 14 minutes, about 15 minutes, about 16 minutes, about 17 minutes, about 18 minutes, about 19 minutes, or about 20 minutes, before or after the active agent is introduced into a silk fibroin matrix.
  • the silk fibroin matrix is a solid-state silk fibroin matrix.
  • an active agent can lose some of its bioactivity during handling before it is distributed into a solid-state silk fibroin matrix.
  • the term “original bioactivity,” as used herein, can be used to describe the bioactivity of an active agent before the active agent is introduced into a silk-fibroin matrix.
  • the term “original bioactivity” refers to the maximum bioactivity of an active agent, e.g., bioactivity measured immediately after activation of the active agent, e.g., by reconstitution or by increasing the temperature. For example, if the active agent is initially in powder, the original bioactivity of the active agent can be measured immediately after reconstitution.
  • the term “original bioactivity” refers to bioactivity of an active agent when stored or transported in the absence of a silk fibroin matrix under conditions specified by the manufacturer.
  • the term “original bioactivity” refers to bioactivity of an active agent when stored or transported in a storage-stable composition as described herein under conditions specified by the manufacturer.
  • the definitions of the term “original bioactivity” described herein are also applied to the terms “original immunogenicity” and “original infectivity” as used later herein.
  • distributing, mixing, or embedding an active agent in a silk fibroin matrix retains or stabilizes the bioactivity of the active agent, e.g., at least about 30% of its original bioactivity, regardless of the environmental or storage conditions (e.g., state-changing cycles, temperature, humidity, or light exposure).
  • the silk fibroin matrix can be in solution or in a solid state.
  • the active agent when an active agent is distributed in a silk fibroin matrix and such composition is subjected to a state-changing cycle and/or is maintained for a period of time under a specified condition, the active agent can retain at least about 30% of its original bioactivity e.g., at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95% of the original bioactivity or higher. In one embodiment, the active agent can retain at least about 80% of its original bioactivity.
  • the stability of an active agent in a silk fibroin matrix i.e., the ability of an active agent to retain its bioactivity (e.g., at least about 30% of its original bioactivity) in a silk fibroin matrix
  • the stability of an active agent in a silk fibroin matrix can be increased by at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, relative to the stability of an active agent in the absence of a silk fibroin matrix.
  • the active agent can retain at least about 80% of its original bioactivity.
  • compositions described herein can be maintained for any period of time, e.g., hours, days, weeks, months or years. In some embodiments, the compositions described herein can be maintained at a temperature above 0° C. for at least about 3 hours, at least about 6 hours, at least about 9 hours, at least about 12 hours, at least about 24 hours or longer. In some embodiments, the compositions described herein can be maintained for at least about 1 day, at least about 2 days, at least about 3 days, at least about 4 days, at least about 5 days, at least about 6 days, at least about 7 days or longer. In some embodiments, the compositions described herein can be maintained for at least about 1 week, at least about 2 weeks, at least about 3 weeks, at least about 4 weeks or longer.
  • compositions described herein can be maintained for at least about 1 month, at least about 2 months, at least about 3 months, at least about 4 months, at least about 5 months, at least about 6 months, at least about 7 months, at least about 8 months, at least about 9 months, at least about 10 months, at least about 11 months, at least about 12 months or longer.
  • the compositions described herein can be maintained at any temperatures or at a manufacturer's recommended temperature specified for an active agent.
  • the compositions can be maintained in liquid nitrogen or in dry ice.
  • the compositions can be maintained, for example, between about ⁇ 80° C. and about ⁇ 20° C., inclusive, or between about ⁇ 20° C. and about 0° C., inclusive.
  • the compositions can be maintained at a temperature above 0° C. In those embodiments, the compositions can be maintained at a temperature from about 0° C. to about an ambient temperature.
  • the term “ambient temperature” is used to describe a surrounding temperature at which the compositions described herein are maintained and it includes temperatures between 0° C. and 60° C., between 0° C. and 50° C., or between 0° C. and 40° C.
  • the ambient temperature is the fridge temperature (e.g., between 0° C. and 15° C., inclusive).
  • the ambient temperature is about the body temperature of a subject (e.g., between 36° C. and 38° C., inclusive, for a human subject, or a higher or lower body temperature range for other animals).
  • the ambient temperature is the room temperature, e.g., between 20° C.
  • the compositions can be maintained at a temperature of at least about 37° C. or greater than 37° C. In some embodiments, the compositions can be maintained at a temperature of at least about 40° C. or greater than 40° C. In some embodiments, the compositions can be maintained at a temperature of at least about 45° C. or greater than 45° C.
  • a composition or an active agent in an implantable drug device can retain at least about 30% of its original bioactivity or higher for at least about 6 hours, at least about 12 hours, at least about 24 hours, at least about 36 hours, at least about 48 hours, at least 3 days, at least about 4 days, at least about 5 days, at least about 6 days, at least about 1 week, at least about 2 weeks, at least about 3 weeks, at least about 4 weeks, at least about 2 months, at least about 3 months, at least about 4 months, at least about 5 months, at least about 6 months, or at least after 1 year or longer, after implantation.
  • one or more active agents e.g., immunogens such as vaccines, encapsulated in an injectable form of silk fibroin matrix (e.g., but not limited to, hydrogel, gel-like particles, and/or microspheres) can be administered to a subject (e.g., by injection such as subcutaneous injection) as a depot of the active agent (e.g., a vaccine depot) such that the active agent (e.g., a vaccine) can be released, continuously or intermittently, from the depot for an extended period of time, e.g., for a period of hours, days, weeks, or months.
  • a subject e.g., by injection such as subcutaneous injection
  • the active agent e.g., a vaccine depot
  • the active agent e.g., a vaccine
  • the active agent e.g., a vaccine
  • the active agent can be released at a rate at which at least about 1% (including at least about 5%, at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, or more) of the encapsulated active agent is released over a period of at least 1 hour, at least 2 hours, at least 3 hours, at least about 4 hours, at least about 5 hours, at least about 6 hours, at least about 12 hours, at least about 24 hours or longer.
  • the active agent e.g., a vaccine
  • the active agent can be released at a rate at which at least about 10% (including at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, or more) of the encapsulated active agent is released over a period of 5 days, a period of 1 week, at least about 2 weeks, at least about 3 weeks, at least about 1 month, at least about 2 months, at least about 3 months or longer.
  • the active agent retains at least about 30% of its original bioactivity e.g., at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95% of the original bioactivity or higher activity at about 4° C., at about 25° C., at about 37° C., at about 45° C., or greater, for at least up to 6 months. In some embodiments, the active agent retains at least about 8% of the original bioactivity at temperatures of about 37° C. or greater, for at least 6 months.
  • the compositions described herein can be maintained under exposure to light, e.g., light of different wavelengths and/or from different sources. In some embodiments, the compositions described herein can be maintained under exposure to UV or infra-red irradiation. In some embodiments, the compositions described herein can be maintained under visible lights.
  • the composition described herein when stored or transported can be subjected to at least one state-changing cycle.
  • state-changing cycle refers to a change of a material state, including, but not limited to, from a solid state to a fluid state, or from a fluid state to a solid state.
  • a fluid state can include, but is not limited to, liquids, gases, slurries, flowable paste, plasmas, and any combinations thereof.
  • a solid state refers to a state that is not flowable, and it can also encompass semi-solids, e.g., a gel.
  • composition described herein can be maintained at a certain state for any period of time, e.g., seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months, or years, before changing to another state.
  • a state-changing cycle can be resulted from at least one change in an environmental condition described herein, e.g., a temperature change, a change in ambient air pressure, light condition, humidity, or any combinations thereof.
  • the state-changing cycle refers to a freeze-thaw cycle.
  • the composition described herein when stored or transported can be subjected to at least one freeze-thaw cycle, at least two freeze-thaw cycles, at least three freeze-thaw cycles, at least four freeze-thaw cycles, at least five freeze-thaw cycles, at least six freeze-thaw cycles, at least seven freeze-thaw cycles, at least eight freeze-thaw cycles, at least nine freeze-thaw cycles, at least ten free-thaw cycles or more.
  • freeze-thaw cycles is used herein to describe a series of alternating freezing and thawing, and also encompasses a series of alternating frozen (solid) and fluid state.
  • one freeze-thaw cycle involves a change of state between a frozen (solid) state and a fluid state.
  • the time interval between freezing and thawing, or frozen and fluid state can be any period of time, e.g., hours, days, weeks or months.
  • an active agent composition once an active agent composition has been frozen or is in a frozen state, it can be continually stored in the frozen state at sub-zero temperatures, e.g., between about ⁇ 20° C. and ⁇ 80° C., until it needs to be thawed for use again.
  • Freezing of a composition can be performed rapidly, e.g., in liquid nitrogen, or gradually, e.g., in a freezing temperature, e.g., between about ⁇ 20° C. and ⁇ 80° C.
  • Thawing of a frozen composition can be performed at any temperature above 0° C. rapidly, e.g., at room temperature, or gradually, e.g., on ice.
  • an active agent in non-silk fibroin matrix can lose its bioactivity over one or more freeze-thaw cycles.
  • distributing an active agent in a silk fiborin matrix can increase the stability of the active agent and thus retain its bioactivity during one or more freeze-thaw cycles.
  • the compositions described herein can be maintained at a relative humidity of at least about 5%, at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50% or higher.
  • relative humidity is a measurement of the amount of water vapor in a mixture of air and water vapor. It is generally defined as the partial pressure of water vapor in the air-water mixture, given as a percentage of the saturated vapor pressure under those conditions.
  • compositions described herein can be lyophilized to decrease residual moisture during storage.
  • residual moisture is decreased by at least about 5%, at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, or at least about 95%.
  • the compositions described herein can be maintained under or subjected to any air pressure. In some embodiments, the compositions described herein can be maintained under or subjected to about atmospheric pressure, or higher, e.g., about 1 atm, about 2 atms, about 3 atms, about 4 atms, about 5 atms, about 6 atms, about 7 atms, about 8 atms, about 9 atms or about 10 atms. In some embodiments, the compositions described herein can be maintained under or subjected to vacuum.
  • the composition is maintained under two or more conditions specified herein.
  • silk can reduce the degradation rate of an immunogen (e.g., vaccine) at an elevated temperature (e.g., at room temperature or above, including at least about 20° C., at least about 30° C., at least about 40° C. or higher).
  • an immunogen (e.g., vaccine) distributed in a silk fibroin matrix can have a half-life longer at an elevated temperature (e.g., at room temperature or above, including at least about 20° C., at least about 30° C., at least about 40° C.
  • the term “half-life” refers to the time at which an agent retains about 50% of its original bioactivity (including original immunogenicity or original infectivity).
  • an immunogen e.g., vaccine
  • the method comprises maintaining an immunogenic composition, wherein the composition comprises a silk fibroin matrix and at least one immunogen (e.g., vaccine) distributed therein, and wherein the immunogen (e.g., vaccine) retains at least about 30% of its original immunogenticity (e.g., infectivity) when the composition is maintained for at least about 24 hours at a temperature of at least about room temperature or higher.
  • the immunogen e.g., vaccine
  • the composition can be maintained for at least up to about 6 months. In some embodiments, the composition can be maintained at a temperature higher than 37° C., or higher than 45° C., or higher.
  • compositions which comprise a silk fibroin matrix and an active agent distributed, mixed or embedded therein, wherein the active agent retains at least about 30% of its original bioactivity when the composition is subjected to at least one state-changing cycle, and/or is maintained for a period of time under one or more conditions specified herein.
  • the state-changing cycle is a freeze-thaw cycle.
  • the period of time for maintaining the active agent is at least about 24 hours.
  • the specified condition can be an environmental condition under which an active agent is stored and/or transported. Non-limiting examples of environmental conditions include temperatures, air pressures, humidity, and light exposure.
  • the compositions described herein can be immunogenic.
  • the active agent is an immunogen.
  • the active agent is a vaccine.
  • compositions described herein can be present in any material state, e.g., a film, a fiber, a particle, a gel, a microsphere, or a hydrogel.
  • the material state of the compositions described herein can vary with the state of the silk fibroin matrix, e.g., a film, a fiber, a particle, a gel, a microsphere, or a hydrogel.
  • the silk fibroin matrix is present in a solid state. In other embodiments, the silk fibroin matrix can be a solution.
  • any ratio of silk fibroin to active agent may be used.
  • the ratio of a silk fibroin matrix to an active agent is about 1:1000 to about 1000:1, about 1:500 to about 500:1, about 1:250 to about 250:1, about 1:125 to about 125:1, about 1:100 to about 100:1, about 1:50 to about 50:1, about 1:25 to about 25:1, about 1:10 to about 10:1, about 1:5 to about 5:1, about 1:3 to about 3:1, or about 1:1.
  • the ratio of the silk fibroin matrix to the active agent can vary with a number of factors, including the selection of an active agent, the storage condition and duration, the concentration of the silk fibroin matrix and the form of the silk matrix.
  • One of skill in the art can determine appropriate ratio of the silk fibroin matrix to the active agent, e.g., by measuring the bioactivity of the active agent retained at various ratios described herein over a pre-defined amount of time under a defined condition, e.g., at a temperature of above 0° C.
  • Methods for measuring the bioactivity of various active agents described herein e.g., enzymes, vaccines, proteins, antibodies and nucleic acids, are well known in the art.
  • stability or bioactivity of a given active agent in silk fibroin may be determined based on combinations of time and temperature. For example, stabilization studies can be conducted for 6 months.
  • Activity assays can be conducted, for example, after 2 weeks, 4 weeks, then monthly.
  • the range of temperature storage conditions to be assessed include 4° C. (refrigeration), 25° C. (room temperature), 37° C. (body temperature), 45° C. and/or 50° C., inclusive. Additionally, activity can be assayed after one, two, three or more freeze-thaw cycles. These variables can be combined exhaustively to fully characterize the optimum formulation for long-term stability of active agent(s).
  • the results of the silk-related active agent stability can be compared with e.g., lyophilized active agent preparations with the same storage conditions, with the goal of improving the stability of the manufacture-recommended storage conditions (e.g., 4° C.) of lyophilized active agent preparations.
  • the compositions comprising a solid-state silk fibroin matrix can be further micronized.
  • micronized is used herein in reference to particles with an average size of about 1000 ⁇ m or less, and encompasses nanoparticles and/or microparticles.
  • nanoparticles is defined as particles with an average size ranging from about 1 nm to about 1000 nm, from about 5 nm to about 900 nm, or from about 10 nm to about 800 nm.
  • microparticles refers to particles with an average size ranging from about 1 ⁇ m to 1000 ⁇ m, from about 5 ⁇ M to about 900 ⁇ m, or from about 10 ⁇ m to about 800 ⁇ m. It should be understood that “micronized” does not refer only to particles which have been produced by the finely dividing such as mechanical grinding, crushing or impinging jet, of materials which are in bulk or other form, e.g., a solid-state silk fibroin film. In some embodiments, micronized particles can also be formed by other mechanical, chemical or physical methods known in the art, such as, for example, formation in solution or in situ. A composition described herein can be micronized, e.g., by pulverizing, crushing, grinding, freeze-drying, or any combinations thereof.
  • Silk fibroin is a particularly appealing biopolymer candidate to be used for embodiments of various aspects described herein, e.g., because of its all aqueous processing (Sofia et al., 54 J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 139 (2001); Perry et al., 20 Adv. Mater. 3070-72 (2008)), relatively easy functionalization (Murphy et al., 29 Biomat. 2829-38 (2008)), and biocompatibility (Santin et al., 46 J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 382-9 (1999)). For example, silk has been approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a tissue engineering scaffold in human implants. See Altman et al., 24 Biomaterials: 401 (2003).
  • Silk can provide an immobilization matrix capable of stabilizing bioactive molecules.
  • Previous reports on entrapment of enzymes, antibodies, and antibiotics entrapped in silk matrices indicates stabilization and recovered activity even at elevated temperatures and without specialized storage conditions or the addition of additives (Pritchard et al., “Silk fibroin encapsulated powder reservoirs for sustained release of adenosine” Journal of Controlled Release (2010) 144:159-167; Lu et al., “Stabilization of enzymes in silk films” Biomacromolecules (2009) 10:1032-1042).
  • these reports do not describe that silk fibroin can stabilize vaccine (e.g., a live vaccine), which is a biological preparation and is temperature sensitive.
  • silk fibroin includes silkworm fibroin and insect or spider silk protein. See e.g., Lucas et al., 13 Adv. Protein Chem. 107 (1958). Any type of silk fibroin can be used according to various aspects described herein.
  • Silk fibroin produced by silkworms, such as Bombyx mori is the most common and represents an earth-friendly, renewable resource.
  • silk fibroin used in a silk film may be attained by extracting sericin from the cocoons of B. mori .
  • Organic silkworm cocoons are also commercially available.
  • silks there are many different silks, however, including spider silk (e.g., obtained from Nephila clavipes ), transgenic silks, genetically engineered silks, such as silks from bacteria, yeast, mammalian cells, transgenic animals, or transgenic plants (see, e.g., WO 97/08315; U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,012), and variants thereof, that can be used.
  • spider silk e.g., obtained from Nephila clavipes
  • transgenic silks e.g., obtained from Nephila clavipes
  • genetically engineered silks such as silks from bacteria, yeast, mammalian cells, transgenic animals, or transgenic plants (see, e.g., WO 97/08315; U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,012), and variants thereof, that can be used.
  • the silk fibroin matrix can be modified for different biomedical applications.
  • the silk particles can be genetically modified, which provides for further modification of the silk such as the inclusion of a fusion polypeptide comprising a fibrous protein domain and a mineralization domain, which can be used to form an organic-inorganic composite. See WO 2006/076711.
  • the silk matrix can be combined with one or more biocompatible polymers such as polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, collagen, fibronectin, keratin, polyaspartic acid, polylysin, alginate, chitosan, chitin, hyaluronic acid, and the like. See, e.g., WO 04/062697; WO 05/012606.
  • the silk fibroin can also be chemically modified, for example through diazonium or carbodiimide coupling reactions, avidin-biodin interaction, or gene modification and the like, to alter the physical properties and functionalities of the silk protein.
  • the silk fibroin matrix can be combined with a chemical, such as glycerol, that, e.g., affects flexibility of the matrix. See, e.g., WO 2010/042798, Modified Silk films Containing Glycerol.
  • active agent refers to any molecule, compound or composition, bioactivity of which is desired to be stabilized when such molecule, compound, or composition is subjected to at least one state-changing cycle, and/or is maintained under certain conditions as described herein.
  • any active agent can be maintained within a silk-fibroin matrix.
  • active agents include, but are not limited to, proteins, peptides, antigens, immunogens, vaccines, antibodies or portions thereof (e.g., antibody-like molecules), enzymes, nucleic acids (e.g., oligonucleotides, polynucleotides, siRNA, shRNA), aptamers, viruses, bacteria, small molecules, cells, photosynthetic and energy-harvesting compounds, flavors, antibiotics, therapeutic agents, diagnostic agents such as contrast agents or dye, viral vectors, and anti-venom.
  • proteins peptides, antigens, immunogens, vaccines, antibodies or portions thereof (e.g., antibody-like molecules), enzymes, nucleic acids (e.g., oligonucleotides, polynucleotides, siRNA, shRNA), aptamers, viruses, bacteria, small molecules, cells, photosynthetic and energy-harvesting compounds, flavors, antibiotics, therapeutic agents, diagnostic agents such as contrast agents or dye, viral vectors, and anti-venom
  • proteins and “peptides” are used interchangeably herein to designate a series of amino acid residues connected to the other by peptide bonds between the alpha-amino and carboxy groups of adjacent residues.
  • protein and “peptide”, which are used interchangeably herein, refer to a polymer of protein amino acids, including modified amino acids (e.g., phosphorylated, glycated, etc.) and amino acid analogs, regardless of its size or function.
  • modified amino acids e.g., phosphorylated, glycated, etc.
  • amino acid analogs regardless of its size or function.
  • peptide refers to peptides, polypeptides, proteins and fragments of proteins, unless otherwise noted.
  • protein and “peptide” are used interchangeably herein when referring to a gene product and fragments thereof.
  • exemplary peptides or proteins include gene products, naturally occurring proteins, homologs, orthologs, paralogs, fragments and other equivalents, variants, fragments, and analogs of the foregoing.
  • nucleic acids refers to polynucleotides such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and, where appropriate, ribonucleic acid (RNA), polymers thereof in either single- or double-stranded form. Unless specifically limited, the term encompasses nucleic acids containing known analogs of natural nucleotides, which have similar binding properties as the reference nucleic acid and are metabolized in a manner similar to naturally occurring nucleotides. Unless otherwise indicated, a particular nucleic acid sequence also implicitly encompasses conservatively modified variants thereof (e.g., degenerate codon substitutions) and complementary sequences, as well as the sequence explicitly indicated.
  • DNA deoxyribonucleic acid
  • RNA ribonucleic acid
  • degenerate codon substitutions may be achieved by generating sequences in which the third position of one or more selected (or all) codons is substituted with mixed-base and/or deoxyinosine residues (Batzer, et al., Nucleic Acid Res. 19:5081 (1991); Ohtsuka, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 260:2605-2608 (1985), and Rossolini, et al., Mol. Cell. Probes 8:91-98 (1994)).
  • nucleic acid should also be understood to include, as equivalents, derivatives, variants and analogs of either RNA or DNA made from nucleotide analogs, and, single (sense or antisense) and double-stranded polynucleotides.
  • siRNA short interfering RNA
  • small interfering RNA is defined as an agent which functions to inhibit expression of a target gene, e.g., by RNAi.
  • An siRNA can be chemically synthesized, it can be produced by in vitro transcription, or it can be produced within a host cell. siRNA molecules can also be generated by cleavage of double stranded RNA, where one strand is identical to the message to be inactivated.
  • siRNA refers to small inhibitory RNA duplexes that induce the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway.
  • siRNA includes duplexes of two separate strands, as well as single strands that can form hairpin structures comprising a duplex region.
  • RNAi refers to short hairpin RNA which functions as RNAi and/or siRNA species but differs in that shRNA species are double stranded hairpin-like structure for increased stability.
  • RNAi refers to interfering RNA, or RNA interference molecules are nucleic acid molecules or analogues thereof for example RNA-based molecules that inhibit gene expression. RNAi refers to a means of selective post-transcriptional gene silencing. RNAi can result in the destruction of specific mRNA, or prevents the processing or translation of RNA, such as mRNA.
  • enzymes refers to a protein molecule that catalyzes chemical reactions of other substances without it being destroyed or substantially altered upon completion of the reactions.
  • the term can include naturally occurring enzymes and bioengineered enzymes or mixtures thereof.
  • Examples of enzyme families include kinases, dehydrogenases, oxidoreductases, GTPases, carboxyl transferases, acyl transferases, decarboxylases, transaminases, racemases, methyl transferases, formyl transferases, and ⁇ -ketodecarboxylases.
  • vaccines refers to any preparation of killed microorganisms, live attenuated organisms, subunit antigens, toxoid antigens, conjugate antigens or other type of antigenic molecule that when introduced into a subjects body produces immunity to a specific disease by causing the activation of the immune system, antibody formation, and/or creating of a T-cell and/or B-cell response.
  • vaccines against microorganisms are directed toward at least part of a virus, bacteria, parasite, mycoplasma, or other infectious agent.
  • vaccine encapsulated in a silk fibroin matrix is a live vaccine.
  • aptamers means a single-stranded, partially single-stranded, partially double-stranded or double-stranded nucleotide sequence capable of specifically recognizing a selected non-oligonucleotide molecule or group of molecules. In some embodiments, the aptamer recognizes the non-oligonucleotide molecule or group of molecules by a mechanism other than Watson-Crick base pairing or triplex formation.
  • Aptamers can include, without limitation, defined sequence segments and sequences comprising nucleotides, ribonucleotides, deoxyribonucleotides, nucleotide analogs, modified nucleotides and nucleotides comprising backbone modifications, branchpoints and normucleotide residues, groups or bridges. Methods for selecting aptamers for binding to a molecule are widely known in the art and easily accessible to one of ordinary skill in the art.
  • antibody refers to an intact immunoglobulin or to a monoclonal or polyclonal antigen-binding fragment with the Fc (crystallizable fragment) region or FcRn binding fragment of the Fc region.
  • antibody-like molecules such as fragments of the antibodies, e.g., antigen-binding fragments. Antigen-binding fragments can be produced by recombinant DNA techniques or by enzymatic or chemical cleavage of intact antibodies.
  • Antigen-binding fragments include, inter alia, Fab, Fab′, F(ab′)2, Fv, dAb, and complementarity determining region (CDR) fragments, single-chain antibodies (scFv), single domain antibodies, chimeric antibodies, diabodies, and polypeptides that contain at least a portion of an immunoglobulin that is sufficient to confer specific antigen binding to the polypeptide. Linear antibodies are also included for the purposes described herein.
  • the terms Fab, Fc, pFc′, F(ab′) 2 and Fv are employed with standard immunological meanings (Klein, Immunology (John Wiley, New York, N.Y., 1982); Clark, W. R.
  • Antibodies or antigen-binding fragments specific for various antigens are available commercially from vendors such as R&D Systems, BD Biosciences, e-Biosciences and Miltenyi, or can be raised against these cell-surface markers by methods known to those skilled in the art.
  • CDRs Complementarity Determining Regions
  • Each variable domain typically has three CDR regions identified as CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3.
  • Each complementarity determining region may comprise amino acid residues from a “complementarity determining region” as defined by Kabat (i.e.
  • a complementarity determining region can include amino acids from both a CDR region defined according to Kabat and a hypervariable loop.
  • linear antibodies refers to the antibodies described in Zapata et al., Protein Eng., 8(10):1057-1062 (1995). Briefly, these antibodies comprise a pair of tandem Fd segments (VH-CH1-VH-CH1) which, together with complementary light chain polypeptides, form a pair of antigen binding regions. Linear antibodies can be bispecific or monospecific.
  • single-chain Fv or “scFv” antibody fragments, as used herein, is intended to mean antibody fragments that comprise the VH and VL domains of antibody, wherein these domains are present in a single polypeptide chain.
  • the Fv polypeptide further comprises a polypeptide linker between the VH and VL domains which enables the scFv to form the desired structure for antigen binding.
  • diabodies refers to small antibody fragments with two antigen-binding sites, which fragments comprise a heavy-chain variable domain (VH) Connected to a light-chain variable domain (VL) in the same polypeptide chain (VH-VL).
  • VH heavy-chain variable domain
  • VL light-chain variable domain
  • the domains are forced to pair with the complementary domains of another chain and create two antigen-binding sites.
  • small molecules refers to natural or synthetic molecules including, but not limited to, peptides, peptidomimetics, amino acids, amino acid analogs, polynucleotides, polynucleotide analogs, aptamers, nucleotides, nucleotide analogs, organic or inorganic compounds (i.e., including heteroorganic and organometallic compounds) having a molecular weight less than about 10,000 grams per mole, organic or inorganic compounds having a molecular weight less than about 5,000 grams per mole, organic or inorganic compounds having a molecular weight less than about 1,000 grams per mole, organic or inorganic compounds having a molecular weight less than about 500 grams per mole, and salts, esters, and other pharmaceutically acceptable forms of such compounds.
  • organic or inorganic compounds i.e., including heteroorganic and organometallic compounds
  • bacteria as used herein is intended to encompass all variants of bacteria, for example, prokaryotic organisms and cyanobacteria. Bacteria are small (typical linear dimensions of around 1 m), non-compartmentalized, with circular DNA and ribosomes of 70S.
  • antibiotics is used herein to describe a compound or composition which decreases the viability of a microorganism, or which inhibits the growth or reproduction of a microorganism.
  • an antibiotic is further intended to include an antimicrobial, bacteriostatic, or bactericidal agent.
  • antibiotics include, but are not limited to, penicillins, cephalosporins, penems, carbapenems, monobactams, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, macrolides, tetracyclins, lincosides, quinolones, chloramphenicol, vancomycin, metronidazole, rifampin, isoniazid, spectinomycin, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, and the like.
  • cells refers to any cell, prokaryotic or eukaryotic, including plant, yeast, worm, insect and mammalian.
  • Mammalian cells include, without limitation; primate, human and a cell from any animal of interest, including without limitation; mouse, hamster, rabbit, dog, cat, domestic animals, such as equine, bovine, murine, ovine, canine, feline, etc.
  • the cells may be a wide variety of tissue types without limitation such as; hematopoietic, neural, mesenchymal, cutaneous, mucosal, stromal, muscle spleen, reticuloendothelial, epithelial, endothelial, hepatic, kidney, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, T-cells etc.
  • Stem cells, embryonic stem (ES) cells, ES-derived cells and stem cell progenitors are also included, including without limitation, hematopoeitic, neural, stromal, muscle, cardiovascular, hepatic, pulmonary, gastrointestinal stem cells, etc.
  • Yeast cells can also be used as cells in some embodiments.
  • the cells can be ex vivo or cultured cells, e.g. in vitro.
  • cells can be obtained from a subject, where the subject is healthy and/or affected with a disease.
  • Cells can be obtained, as a non-limiting example, by biopsy or other surgical means know to those skilled in the art.
  • photosynthetic and energy-harvesting compounds refers to molecules that can obtain or absorb energy from light, e.g., chlorophyll.
  • the term “viral vector” typically includes foreign DNA which is desired to be inserted in a host cell and usually includes an expression cassette.
  • the foreign DNA can comprise an entire transcription unit, promoter gene-poly A or the vector can be engineered to contain promoter/transcription termination sequences such that only the gene of interest need be inserted.
  • These types of control sequences are known in the art and include promoters for transcription initiation, optionally with an operator along with ribosome binding site sequences.
  • Viral vectors include, but are not limited to, lentivirus vectors, retroviral vectors, lentiviral vectors, herpes simplex viral vectors, adenoviral vectors, adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors, EPV, EBV or variants or derivatives thereof.
  • Various companies produce such viral vectors commercially, including, but not limited to, Avigen, Inc. (Alameda, Calif.; AAV vectors), Cell Genesys (Foster City, Calif.; retroviral, adenoviral, AAV, and lentiviral vectors), Clontech (retroviral and baculoviral vectors), Genovo, Inc.
  • the term “antigens” refers to a molecule or a portion of a molecule capable of being bound by a selective binding agent, such as an antibody, and additionally capable of being used in an animal to elicit the production of antibodies capable of binding to an epitope of that antigen.
  • An antigen may have one or more epitopes.
  • the term “antigen” can also refer to a molecule capable of being bound by an antibody or a T cell receptor (TCR) if presented by MHC molecules.
  • TCR T cell receptor
  • the term “antigen”, as used herein, also encompasses T-cell epitopes.
  • An antigen is additionally capable of being recognized by the immune system and/or being capable of inducing a humoral immune response and/or cellular immune response leading to the activation of B- and/or T-lymphocytes. This may, however, require that, at least in certain cases, the antigen contains or is linked to a Th cell epitope and is given in adjuvant.
  • An antigen can have one or more epitopes (B- and T-epitopes). The specific reaction referred to above is meant to indicate that the antigen will preferably react, typically in a highly selective manner, with its corresponding antibody or TCR and not with the multitude of other antibodies or TCRs which may be evoked by other antigens. Antigens as used herein may also be mixtures of several individual antigens.
  • viruses refers to an infectious agent composed of a nucleic acid encapsidated in a protein. Such infectious agents are incapable of autonomous replication (i.e., replication requires the use of the host cell's machinery). Viral genomes can be single-stranded (ss) or double-stranded (ds), RNA or DNA, and can or cannot use reverse transcriptase (RT). Additionally, ssRNA viruses can be either sense (+) or antisense ( ⁇ ). Exemplary viruses include, but are not limited to, dsDNA viruses (e.g. Adenoviruses, Herpesviruses, Poxviruses), ssDNA viruses (e.g.
  • viruses Parvoviruses
  • dsRNA viruses e.g. Reoviruses
  • (+)ssRNA viruses e.g. Picornaviruses, Togaviruses
  • ⁇ )ssRNA viruses e.g. Orthomyxoviruses, Rhabdoviruses
  • ssRNA-RT viruses i.e., (+)sense RNA with DNA intermediate in life-cycle (e.g. Retroviruses)
  • dsDNA-RT viruses e.g. Hepadnaviruses
  • viruses can also include wild-type (natural) viruses, killed viruses, live attenuated viruses, modified viruses, recombinant viruses or any combinations thereof.
  • viruses include, but are not limited to, enveloped viruses, respiratory syncytial viruses, non-enveloped viruses, bacteriophages, recombinant viruses, and viral vectors.
  • bacteriophages refers to viruses that infect bacteria.
  • anti-venom refers to a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings.
  • the anti-venom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect.
  • the venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep, goat or cat.
  • the subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom's active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal's blood and used to treat envenomation.
  • therapeutic agents is art-recognized and refers to any chemical moiety that is a biologically, physiologically, or pharmacologically active substance that acts locally or systemically in a subject.
  • therapeutic agents also referred to as “drugs”
  • drug are described in well-known literature references such as the Merck Index, the Physicians Desk Reference, and The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, and they include, without limitation, medicaments; vitamins; mineral supplements; substances used for the treatment, prevention, diagnosis, cure or mitigation of a disease or illness; substances which affect the structure or function of the body; or pro-drugs, which become biologically active or more active after they have been placed in a physiological environment.
  • a therapeutic agent may be used which are capable of being released from the subject composition into adjacent tissues or fluids upon administration to a subject.
  • steroids and esters of steroids e.g., estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, androsterone, cholesterol, norethindrone, digoxigenin, cholic acid, deoxycholic acid, and chenodeoxycholic acid
  • boron-containing compounds e.g., carborane
  • chemotherapeutic nucleotides e.g., drugs (e.g., antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals), enediynes (e.g., calicheamicins, esperamicins, dynemicin, neocarzinostatin chromophore, and kedarcidin chromophore), heavy metal complexes (e.g., cisplatin), hormone antagonists (e.g., tamoxifen), non-specific (non-antibody) proteins (e
  • diagnostic agent is any chemical moiety that can be used for diagnosis.
  • diagnostic agents include imaging agents containing radioisotopes such as indium or technetium; contrast agents or dyes containing iodine, gadolinium or cyanine; enzymes such as horse radish peroxidase, GFP, alkaline phosphatase, or ⁇ -galactosidase; fluorescent substances such as europium derivatives; luminescent substances such as N-methylacrydium derivatives or the like.
  • the active agents are immunogens.
  • the immunogen is a vaccine.
  • a model vaccine MMR live attenuated vaccine entrapped and subsequently recovered from a silk carrier maintained significant biological activity compared to non-silk-entrapped vaccine.
  • a stabilized MMR vaccine that can be stored at ambient temperature for several weeks while maintaining a substantial proportion of original activity. The stabilization of live attenuated vaccines provides an important breakthrough in immunization programs, lowering costs for transportation, equipment and training; reducing wastage; and thus expanding immunization programs.
  • immunogen refers to any substance, e.g., vaccines, capable of eliciting an immune response in an organism.
  • An “immunogen” is capable of inducing an immunological response against itself on administration to a subject.
  • immunological refers to the development of a humoral (antibody mediated) and/or a cellular (mediated by antigen-specific T cells or their secretion products) response directed against an immunogen in a recipient subject.
  • Such a response can be an active response induced by administration of an immunogen or immunogenic peptide to a subject or a passive response induced by administration of antibody or primed T-cells that are directed towards the immunogen.
  • a cellular immune response is elicited by the presentation of polypeptide epitopes in association with Class I or Class II MHC molecules to activate antigen-specific CD4+ T helper cells and/or CD8+ cytotoxic T cells.
  • Such a response can also involve activation of monocytes, macrophages, NK cells, basophils, dendritic cells, astrocytes, microglia cells, eosinophils or other components of innate immunity.
  • immunogenicity refers to the ability of a substance, such as an antigen or epitope, to provoke humoral and/or cell-mediated immunological response in a subject.
  • a skilled artisan can readily measure immunogenicity of a substance.
  • the presence of a cell-mediated immunological response can be determined by any art-recognized methods, e.g., proliferation assays (CD4+ T cells), CTL (cytotoxic T lymphocyte) assays (see Burke, supra; Tigges, supra), or immunohistochemistry with tissue section of a subject to determine the presence of activated cells such as monocytes and macrophages after the administration of an immunogen.
  • One of skill in the art can readily determine the presence of humoral-mediated immunological response in a subject by any well-established methods. For example, the level of antibodies produced in a biological sample such as blood can be measured by western blot, ELISA or other methods known for antibody detection.
  • Immunogens useful in some embodiments of various aspects described herein include killed pathogens, live attenuated pathogens, protein subunits and conjugates thereof, inactivated toxins, and synthetic peptides, carbohydrates and conjugates thereof, and antigens.
  • pathogen as used herein means any disease-producing agent (especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism).
  • killed pathogens is used herein in reference to pathogen that were previously virulent (i.e. able to cause disease) but have been destroyed with chemicals or heat.
  • vaccines comprising killed pathogens include, without limitations, the influenza vaccine, cholera vaccine, bubonic plague vaccine, polio vaccine, hepatitis A vaccine, and rabies vaccine.
  • live attenuated pathogens refers to pathogens that have not been inactivated, i.e. pathogens capable of replicating on permissive cells and inducing a specific immunological response, but do not induce diseases caused by the corresponding wild-type pathogens in a subject.
  • Live attenuated pathogens can be produced by one of skill in the art, e.g., by cultivating wild-type pathogens under conditions that disable their virulent properties, or using closely-related but less virulent organisms to produce such an immunological response.
  • Exemplary live attenuated pathogens include, but are not limited to, the viral diseases yellow fever, measles, rubella, and mumps and the bacterial disease typhoid.
  • the live Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine is not made of a contagious strain, but contains a virulently modified strain called “BCG” used to elicit an immune response to the vaccine.
  • BCG virulently modified strain
  • the live attenuated vaccine containing strain Yersinia pestis EV is used for plague immunization.
  • an immunogen used in the compositions described herein can be inactivated toxins that cause diseases rather than the pathogen.
  • Such non-limiting compositions include tetanus and diphtheria.
  • an immunogen can comprise an inactivated compound, e.g., an inactivated toxin, from a pathogen, synthetic peptides, carbohydrates, or antigens can also be used as an immunogen in the immunogenic compositions described herein.
  • an immunogen used in the compositions described herein can include a protein subunit, i.e., a fragment of a killed or live attenuated pathogen, or a conjugate thereof.
  • a protein subunit i.e., a fragment of a killed or live attenuated pathogen, or a conjugate thereof.
  • Such exemplary examples include, without limitations, the subunit vaccine against Hepatitis B virus that is composed of only the surface proteins of the virus (previously extracted from the blood serum of chronically infected patients, but now produced by recombination of the viral genes into yeast), the virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) that is composed of the viral major capsid protein, and the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase subunits of the influenza virus.
  • VLP virus-like particle
  • HPV human papillomavirus
  • certain pathogens have polysaccharide outer coats that are poorly immunogenic.
  • proteins e.g. toxins
  • the immune system can recognize the polysaccharide as if it were a protein antigen.
  • An exemplary conjugated immunogen is the one used in Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine. Accordingly, conjugated immunogens are also included in the aspects described herein.
  • immunogens includes the ones that can be derived from hepatitis B virus, Haemophilus influenzae Type B, poliovirus, Neisseria meningitides C, influenza, Varicella , or Mycobacteria tuberculosis bacille Calmette-Guérin, tetanus toxoid, diphtheria toxoid, or Bordetella pertussis .
  • the immunogen can also be a combination immunogen, such as DTaP, DTwP, DTwP hepB, DTP hep B Hib, or DTaP hep B Hib IPV.
  • the immunogen is a bacterium, such as Mycobacteria tuberculosis bacille Calmette-Guérin or Bordetella pertussis .
  • the bacterial immunogen can be killed or attenuated.
  • the immunogen can comprise a bacterial subunit.
  • Example immunogenic bacterial subunits include those derived from Neisseria meningitides type C, Haemophilus influenzae type B, Streptococcus pneumoniae , Group B streptococcus , or Bordetella pertussis .
  • the bacterial immunogen can be recombinant.
  • the bacterial subunit can be, or include, a polysaccharide.
  • the immunogen is a viral subunit, for example, derived from Hepatitis B virus or Human Papillomavirus.
  • the viral immunogen can also be recombinant.
  • the viral immunogen can also comprise killed virus.
  • the immunogen stabilized as described herein can be a vaccine product, for example, BIOTHRAX® (anthrax vaccine adsorbed, Emergent Biosolutions, Rockville, Md.); TICE® BCG Live (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin for intravesical use, Organon Tekina Corp.
  • BIOTHRAX® anthrax vaccine adsorbed, Emergent Biosolutions, Rockville, Md.
  • TICE® BCG Live Bacillus Calmette-Guérin for intravesical use, Organon Tekina Corp.
  • TYPHIMVI® Tetyphoid Vi polysaccharide vaccine, Sanofi Pasteur
  • ADACEL® tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis, sanofi pasteur
  • BOOSTRIX® tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis, GlaxoSmithKline
  • VIVOTIF® typhoid vaccine live oral Ty21a, Berna Biotech
  • ACAM2000TM Smallpox (vaccinia) vaccine, live, Acambis, Inc.
  • DRYVAX® Smallpox (vaccinia) vaccine
  • VARIVAX® varicella [live] vaccine, Merck
  • YF-VAX® Yellow fever vaccine, Sanofi Pasteur
  • ZOSTAVAX® Varicella zoster, Merck
  • animal vaccines such as canine and feline vaccines can also be included in the methods and compositions described herein.
  • animal vaccines include, but are not limited to, DURAMUNE® MAX 5 (5-way vaccine: Canine Distemper, Infectious Canine Hepatitis, Adenovirus Type 2, Parainfluenza, and Parvovirus, Fort Dodge); NEO PAR® (parvovirus, Neo Tech); VANGUARD® PLUS 5 (Canine Distemper, Adenovirus Type 1 and 2, Parainfluenza and Parvovirus; Pfizer); BRONCHI-SHIELD® III (Canine Parainfluenza; Fort Dodge); and ECLIPSE® 4 (feline rhinotracheitis, calici, and panleukopenia viruses and Chlamydia psittaci , Schering-Plough/Intervet). Any commercially available animal vaccines can be included in the compositions described herein.
  • Live attenuated immunogenic compositions e.g., live attenuated vaccines
  • the immunogens used in the compositions described herein is live, attenuated pathogens.
  • the immunogens are live attenuated viruses. Accordingly, methods and immunogenic compositions comprising at least one live attenuated virus (including at least two live attenuated viruses, at least three live attenuated viruses, or more) are also described herein.
  • the immunogenic compositions include a silk-fibroin matrix and at least one live attenuated virus (including at least two live attenuated viruses, at least three live attenuated viruses, or more) distributed therein, wherein the live attenuated virus(es) retains at least about 30% of its original infectivity when the composition is (a) subjected to at least one state-changing cycle, and/or (b) maintained for a period of time under a specified condition.
  • the live attenuated virus(es) can retain at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95% of original infectivity or higher.
  • the term “infectivity” in reference to a virus means the characteristic of a virus that embodies capability of entering, surviving in, and multiplying or causing an immunological response in a susceptible host. Any methods known to a skilled artisan for determination of virus infectivity can be used for the purposes described herein, e.g., the in vitro infectivity assay described in Example 1 can be employed.
  • the live attenuated virus can be an enveloped virus such as Paramyxoviridae, Togaviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Flaviviridae, Herpesviridae, Rhabdovirus, or Retroviridae.
  • enveloped virus can be varicella , measles virus, mumps virus, German measles virus, respiratory syncytial virus, yellow fever virus, or influenza virus.
  • enveloped virus is meant a virus comprising a lipid-containing or lipoprotein-containing membrane which surrounds their protein capsids.
  • These viral envelopes can be derived from portions of the host cell membranes (phospholipids and proteins), but include some viral glycoproteins.
  • viral envelopes can be used to help viruses enter host cells.
  • glycoproteins on the surface of the envelope serve to identify and bind to receptor sites on the host's membrane.
  • the viral envelope then fuses with the host's membrane, allowing the capsid and viral genome to enter and infect the host.
  • these enveloped viruses can be sterilized more easily than non-enveloped viruses, and thus have limited survival outside host environments. Accordingly, methods and immunogenic compositions provided herein are of particular importance to maintain the survival of live attenuated enveloped virus outside host environments and thus their infectivity once introduced into a host cell.
  • the live, attenuated virus can be a non-enveloped virus, i.e. a virus with no viral envelop as described above.
  • the non-enveloped virus can be rotavirus, reovirus, hepatitis virus, rabies virus and/or poliovirus.
  • a cell-free, stabilized virus preparation comprising a silk fibroin matrix and infective virus distributed, mixed or embedded therein, wherein the virus retains at least about 30% of its original infectivity when the preparation is (a) subjected to at least one state-changing cycle, and/or (b) is maintained for a period of time under a condition specified herein.
  • compositions described herein can further comprise an additive distributed, mixed or embedded in the silk fibroin matrix.
  • the additive is a stabilizing agent.
  • stabilizing agent can further increase the stability of the active agent, i.e., the active agent can retain a higher bioactivity, relative to the bioactivity in the absence of the stabilizing agent.
  • the stabilizing agent is selected from the group consisting of a saccharide, a sugar alcohol, an ion, a surfactant, and any combinations thereof.
  • the saccacharide e.g., sucrose, is added into the compositions described herein.
  • stabilizing agents can be added to the silk fibroin solution or matrix.
  • Example stabilizers previously shown to be effective on oral polio vaccine as well as those discussed herein can be used.
  • Stabilizing agents may include cationic stabilizers (listed most to least stabilizing): (CH 3 ) 4 N + >Me 2+ , K + >Na + , NH 4+ >Li + ; anionic stabilizers (most to least stabilizing): CH 3 COO ⁇ , SO 4 ⁇ , PO 4 2 ⁇ >Cl ⁇ , SCN ⁇ ; and heavy water (D 2 O) (Dorval et al, 1989).
  • stabilizing agents known in the art, e.g., for stabilizing other vaccines, can also be included in the compositions described herein, for example, amino acids, such as sodium glutamate, arginine, lysine, and cysteine; monosaccharides, such as glucose, galactose, fructose, and mannose; disaccharides, such as sucrose, maltose, and lactose; sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and mannitol; polysaccharides, such as oligosaccharide, starch, cellulose, and derivatives thereof; human serum albumin and bovine serum albumin; gelatin, and gelatin derivatives, such as hydrolyzed gelatin; and ascorbic acid as an antioxidant.
  • amino acids such as sodium glutamate, arginine, lysine, and cysteine
  • monosaccharides such as glucose, galactose, fructose, and mannose
  • disaccharides such as sucrose, maltose
  • compositions or preparations described herein can further comprise a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • the compositions or preparations can be in any form, e.g., a tablet, a lozenge, a suspension, a free-flowing powder, an aerosol, and a capsule.
  • pharmaceutically acceptable refers to those compounds, materials, compositions, and/or dosage forms which are, within the scope of sound medical judgment, suitable for use in contact with the tissues of human beings and animals without excessive toxicity, irritation, allergic response, or other problem or complication, commensurate with a reasonable benefit/risk ratio.
  • pharmaceutically acceptable carrier refers to a pharmaceutically-acceptable material, composition or vehicle for administration of an active agent described herein.
  • Pharmaceutically acceptable carriers include any and all solvents, dispersion media, coatings, antibacterial and antifungal agents, isotonic and absorption delaying agents, and the like which are compatible with the activity of the active agent and are physiologically acceptable to the subject.
  • materials which can serve as pharmaceutically-acceptable carriers include: (i) sugars, such as lactose, glucose and sucrose; (ii) starches, such as corn starch and potato starch; (iii) cellulose, and its derivatives, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, methylcellulose, ethyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose and cellulose acetate; (iv) powdered tragacanth; (v) malt; (vi) gelatin; (vii) lubricating agents, such as magnesium stearate, sodium lauryl sulfate and talc; (viii) excipients, such as cocoa butter and suppository waxes; (ix) oils, such as peanut oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, olive oil, corn oil and soybean oil; (x) glycols, such as propylene glycol; (xi) polyols, such as glycerin, sorbitol, mannitol and
  • compositions or preparations described herein to be administered orally include, but are not limited to pharmaceutically acceptable excipients such as inert diluents, disintegrating agents, binding agents, lubricating agents, sweetening agents, flavoring agents, coloring agents and preservatives.
  • pharmaceutically acceptable carriers include, but are not limited to pharmaceutically acceptable excipients such as inert diluents, disintegrating agents, binding agents, lubricating agents, sweetening agents, flavoring agents, coloring agents and preservatives.
  • suitable inert diluents include sodium and calcium carbonate, sodium and calcium phosphate, and lactose, while corn starch and alginic acid are suitable disintegrating agents.
  • Binding agents may include starch and gelatin, while the lubricating agent, if present, will generally be magnesium stearate, stearic acid or talc. If desired, the tablets may be coated with a material such as glyceryl monostearate or glyceryl distearate, to delay absorption in the gastrointestinal tract.
  • compositions and preparations described herein can be delivered via any administration mode known to a skilled practitioner.
  • the compositions and preparations described herein can be delivered in a systemic manner, via administration routes such as, but not limited to, oral, and parenteral including intravenous, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intradermal, and subcutaneous.
  • administration routes such as, but not limited to, oral, and parenteral including intravenous, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intradermal, and subcutaneous.
  • the compositions and preparations described herein are in a form that is suitable for injection.
  • the compositions and preparations described herein are formulated for oral administration.
  • compositions and preparations suitable for injection include sterile aqueous solutions or dispersions.
  • the carrier can be a solvent or dispersing medium containing, for example, water, cell culture medium, buffers (e.g., phosphate buffered saline), polyol (for example, glycerol, propylene glycol, liquid polyethylene glycol, and the like), suitable mixtures thereof.
  • the pharmaceutical carrier can be a buffered solution (e.g. PBS).
  • An oral composition can be prepared in any orally acceptable dosage form including, but not limited to, tablets, capsules, emulsions and aqueous suspensions, dispersions and solutions.
  • Commonly used carriers for tablets include lactose and corn starch.
  • Lubricating agents, such as magnesium stearate, are also typically added to tablets.
  • useful diluents include lactose and dried corn starch.
  • the active ingredient can be suspended or dissolved in an oily phase combined with emulsifying or suspending agents. If desired, certain sweetening, flavoring, or coloring agents can be added.
  • Liquid preparations for oral administration can also be prepared in the form of a dry powder to be reconstituted with a suitable solvent prior to use.
  • compositions can also contain auxiliary substances such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering agents, gelling or viscosity enhancing additives, preservatives, colors, and the like, depending upon the route of administration and the preparation desired.
  • Standard texts such as “REMINGTON'S PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE”, 17th edition, 1985, incorporated herein by reference, may be consulted to prepare suitable preparations, without undue experimentation.
  • any vehicle, diluent, or additive used should have to be biocompatible with the active agents described herein.
  • the components of the compositions should be selected to be biocompatible with respect to the active agent. This will present no problem to those skilled in chemical and pharmaceutical principles, or problems can be readily avoided by reference to standard texts or by simple experiments (not involving undue experimentation).
  • compositions and preparations described herein can be formulated in an emulsion or a gel.
  • Such gel compositions and preparations can be implanted locally to a diseased tissue region of a subject.
  • compositions or preparations described herein can be administered with a delivery device, e.g., a syringe.
  • a delivery device e.g., a syringe.
  • an additional aspect described herein provides for delivery devices comprising at least one chamber with an outlet, wherein the at least one chamber comprises a pre-determined amount of any composition described herein and the outlet provides an exit for the composition enclosed inside the chamber.
  • a delivery device described herein can further comprise an actuator to control release of the composition through the outlet.
  • Such delivery device can be any device to facilitate the administration of any composition described herein to a subject, e.g., a syringe, a dry powder injector, a nasal spray, a nebulizer, or an implant such as a microchip, e.g., for sustained-release or controlled release of any composition described herein.
  • the silk fibroin matrix itself can be modified to control its degradation and thus the release of active agents, e.g. such that release occurs over a period of time ranging from hours to days, or months.
  • the compositions described herein can be combined with other types of delivery systems available and known to those of ordinary skill in the art. They include, for example, polymer-based systems such as polylactic and/or polyglycolic acids, polyanhydrides, polycaprolactones, copolyoxalates, polyesteramides, polyorthoesters, polyhydroxybutyric acid, and/or combinations thereof. Microcapsules of the foregoing polymers containing drugs are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No.
  • Nonpolymer systems that are lipid-based including sterols such as cholesterol, cholesterol esters, and fatty acids or neuka1 fats such as mono-, di- and triglycerides; hydrogel release systems; liposome-based systems; phospholipid based-systems; silastic systems; peptide based systems; or partially fused implants.
  • Specific examples include, but are not limited to, erosional systems in which the composition is contained in a form within a matrix (for example, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos.
  • the formulation may be as, for example, microspheres, hydrogels, polymeric reservoirs, cholesterol matrices, or polymeric systems.
  • the system may allow sustained or controlled release of the composition to occur, for example, through control of the diffusion or erosion/degradation rate of the formulation containing the composition.
  • a pump-based hardware delivery system can be used to deliver one or more embodiments of the compositions or preparations described herein.
  • Use of a long-term sustained release formulations or implants can be particularly suitable for treatment of chronic conditions, such as diabetes.
  • Long-term release means that a formulation or an implant is made and arranged to deliver compositions or preparations described herein at a therapeutic level for at least 30 days, or at least 60 days.
  • the long-term release refers to a formulation or an implant being configured to deliver an active agent at a therapeutic level over several months.
  • the storage-stable compositions are immunogenic.
  • the method includes providing or obtaining a silk fibroin matrix comprising at least one active agent, in which the at least one active agent retains at least about 30% of its original bioactivity upon storage or transported for a period of time under a specified condition.
  • the method further comprises mixing, or adding at least one active agent in a silk fibroin matrix.
  • the method further comprises drying the silk fibroin matrix comprising at least one active agent to form a solid-state silk fibroin, in which the at least one active agent retains at least about 30% of its original bioactivity upon storage or transported for a period of time under a specified condition.
  • the silk fibroin matrix can be a solution or a gel-like solution.
  • the silk fibroin matrix containing at least one active agent can be dried in air or nitrogen, or by lyophilization.
  • the silk fibroin matrix (e.g., silk solution) containing at least one active agent can be subjected to lyophilization to form lyophilized solid-state silk fibroin loaded with the active agent, in which the at least one active agent retains at least about 60%, at least about 70%, or at least about 80% of its original bioactivity (e,g, viral potency, see e.g. Example 3) upon storage or transport for a period of time (e.g. for at least 6 months, or for up to 6 months) under a specified condition (e.g. storage or transport at 37° C., at 45° C., or at greater than at 45° C.).
  • a specified condition e.g. storage or transport at 37° C., at 45° C., or at greater than at 45° C.
  • the method can further comprise lyophilization of the solid-state or dried silk fibroin comprising at least one active agent, e.g., to further decrease residual moisture of the composition, in which the at least one active agent retains at least about 60%, at least about 70%, or at least about 80% of its original bioactivity (e,g, viral potency, see e.g. Example 3) upon storage or transport for a period of time (e.g. for at least 6 months, or for up to 6 months) under a specified condition (e.g. storage or transport at 37° C., at 45° C., or at greater than at 45° C.).
  • at least one active agent retains at least about 60%, at least about 70%, or at least about 80% of its original bioactivity (e,g, viral potency, see e.g. Example 3) upon storage or transport for a period of time (e.g. for at least 6 months, or for up to 6 months) under a specified condition (e.g. storage or transport at 37° C., at 45° C
  • the method of producing a solid-state storage-stable composition includes (a) providing or obtaining a silk fibroin matrix comprising at least one active agent; and (b) drying the silk fibroin matrix comprising the at least one active agent to form a solid-state silk fibroin, in which the at least one active agent retains at least about 30% of its original bioactivity upon storage or transported for a period of time under a specified condition.
  • the method further comprises step (c) of lyophilizing the solid state silk-fibroin of step (b), e.g. to retain at least about 60%, at least about 70%, or at least about 80% original bioactivity of the active agent at temperatures above 0° C., e.g.
  • the solid state silk-fibroin of step (b) is subjected to a post treatment, e.g. treatment with methanol, ethanol, shear stress, electric filed, pressure etc., prior to the lyophilization of step (c).
  • the active agent is an immunogenic composition.
  • the immunogenic composition comprises a monovalent vaccine.
  • the immunogenic composition comprises a multivalent or polyvalent vaccine, e.g., a divalent vaccine or a trivalent vaccine.
  • a monovalent vaccine refers to a vaccine that is designed to immunize against a single antigen or single microorganism.
  • a multivalent or polyvalent vaccine refers to a vaccine that is designed to immunize against two or more different strains of a microorganism, or against two or more different microorganisms.
  • a divalent vaccine is generally a vaccine that is designed to immunize against two different strains of a microorganism or against two different microorganisms.
  • a trivalent vaccine is generally a vaccine that is designed to immunize against three different strains of a microorganism or against three different microorganisms.
  • An exemplary trivalent vaccine is a vaccine that is designed to immunize against measles, mumps, and rubella.
  • silk can prevent the virus proteins from undergoing heat-induced aggregation and/or raise the glass-transition temperature of the vaccine (or melting point of a viral protein), thus maintaining infectivity at elevated temperatures.
  • the method of preparing an immunogenic composition described herein can be employed for decreasing the likelihood of or preventing viral protein aggregation at a temperature at which a virus would otherwise aggregate in the absence of silk matrix.
  • the method of preparing an immunogenic composition described herein can be used to decrease the likelihood of viral protein aggregation by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95% or more, as compared to an immunogen without the silk fibroin matrix.
  • viral protein aggregation in an immunogenic composition described herein can be reduced by at least about 1.5 fold, at least about 2-fold, at least about 3-fold, at least about 4-fold, at least about 5-fold, or more, as compared to an immunogen without the silk fibroin matrix.
  • the viral protein aggregation can be determined, e.g., by measuring the effective diameter of viral particles using dynamic light scattering as shown in Example 3.
  • the methods of preparing an immunogenic composition described herein can be employed for increasing the viral protein aggregation temperature by at least about 10° C., at least about 20° C., at least about 30° C., at least about 40° C., at least about 50° C., at least about 60° C., at least about 70° C., at least about 80° C., at least about 90° C., at least about 100° C., or higher, as compared to an immunogen without the silk fibroin matrix.
  • the viral protein aggregation temperature can be determined, e.g., by measuring the effective diameter of viral particles over a range of temperatures using dynamic light scattering as shown in Example 3.
  • the temperature at which the effective diameter of viral particles begins to increase can be the viral protein aggregation temperature.
  • the methods of preparing an immunogenic composition described herein can be employed for increasing the glass-transition temperature and/or melting point of a vaccine by at least about 10° C., at least about 20° C., at least about 30° C., at least about 40° C., at least about 50° C., at least about 60° C., at least about 70° C., at least about 80° C., at least about 90° C., at least about 100° C., at least about 125° C., at least about 150° C. or higher, as compared to an immunogen without the silk fibroin matrix.
  • the glass-transition temperature and/or melting point of a vaccine can be determined, e.g., by differential scanning calorimetry as shown in Example 3.
  • the aqueous silk fibroin solution used for making a solid-state silk fibroin can be prepared using techniques known in the art.
  • the concentration of silk fibroin in solutions used to embed or carry active agent can be suited to the particular active agent. Any concentration of silk fibroin solution may be used.
  • the concentrations of silk may be at least about 2%, at least about 4%, at least about 5%, at least about 6%, at least about 7%, at least about 8%, at least about 9%, at least about 10%, at least about 12%, at least about 14%, at least about 15%, at least about 16%, at least about 18%, or at least about 20% (w/v), inclusive.
  • Suitable processes for preparing silk fibroin solution are disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/247,358; WO/2005/012606; and WO/2008/127401.
  • the silk aqueous solution can then be processed into silk matrix such as silk films, conformal coatings or layers, or 3-dimensional scaffolds, or electrospun fibers for further processing into the silk reflectors.
  • a micro-filtration step may be used herein.
  • the prepared silk fibroin solution may be processed further by centrifugation and syringe based micro-filtration before further processing into silk matrix.
  • Additional polymers e.g., biocompatible and biodegradable polymers
  • additional biopolymers such as chitosan, exhibit desirable mechanical properties, can be processed in water, blended with silk fibroin, and form generally films.
  • biopolymers such as chitosan, collagen, gelatin, agarose, chitin, polyhydroxyalkanoates, pullan, starch (amylose amylopectin), cellulose, alginate, fibronectin, keratin, hyaluronic acid, pectin, polyaspartic acid, polylysin, pectin, dextrans, and related biopolymers, or a combination thereof, may be utilized in specific applications, and synthetic biodegradable polymers such as polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, polycaprolactone, polyorthoester, polycaprolactone, polyfumarate, polyanhydrides, and related copolymers may also be selectively used.
  • synthetic biodegradable polymers such as polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, polycaprolactone, polyorthoester, polycaprolactone, polyfumarate, polyanhydrides,
  • a silk fibroin matrix can be in solution or in a solid state.
  • the solid-state silk fibroin matrix can be in any material format, such as silk fibers, electrospun fibers, films, mats, 3-D scaffolds, dried gels, spheres (including microsphere and/or nanospheres), particles or composites of one or more different formats of silk materials, as described herein.
  • the solid-state silk fibroin is a particle.
  • the solid-state silk fibroin is a silk film.
  • a silk fibroin film can be prepared by depositing an aqueous silk fibroin-containing solution (e.g., silk concentration of about 3% (w/v) to about 30% (w/v), or about 5% (w/v) to about 15% (w/v)) on a support substrate and allowing the silk fibroin solution to dry into a film.
  • the substrate coated with silk fibroin-based solution may be exposed in air for a period of time, such as 12 hours.
  • Depositing the silk fibroin solution can be performed by, e.g., using a spin coating method, where the silk fibroin solution is spin coated onto the substrate to allow the fabrication of thin membranes of non-uniform in height; or simply by pouring silk fibroin solution over the top of the substrate.
  • the properties of the silk fibroin film such as thickness and content of other components, may be altered based on the concentration and/or the volume of the silk fibroin solution applied to the substrate, and the techniques used for processing the silk fibroin solution into silk film.
  • the thickness of the silk film may be controlled by changing the concentration of the silk fibroin in the solution, or by using desired volumes of silk fibroin solution, resulting silk fibroin film with a thickness ranging from approximately 2 nm to 1 mm thick.
  • the active-agent containing silk fibroin solution can be subjected to lyophilization to form lyophilized silk fibroin matrix, e.g., lyophilized silk fibroin film.
  • active agents e.g., immunogens
  • Subjecting the silk fibroin solution containing one or more active agents (e.g., immunogens such as vaccines) to lyophilization for drying not only improve the initial recovery of the active agent (e.g., immunogens such as vaccines) during the fabrication process, but it also surprisingly provides greater stabilization of the active agent (e.g., immunoagens such as vaccines) at elevated temperatures (e.g., at room temperature or above, or 37° C. or above, or at 45° C.
  • active agents e.g., immunogens such as vaccines
  • the solid-state silk fibroin can be a composite of one or more layers of silk fibroin.
  • Each layer of silk fibroin can possess the same or different composition or properties.
  • each layer of silk fibroin can possess the same or different concentration of silk fibroin, and/or each layer can possess the same or different mechanical and/or degradation properties.
  • the solid-state silk fibroin can be a multi-layered silk fibroin, e.g., which can be tuned to reflect specific wavelengths.
  • the solid-state silk fibroin can be a silk hydrogel.
  • Methods for making a silk hydrogel are known in the art.
  • a silk hydrogel can be produced by applying a shear stress to a silk fibroin solution (comprising one or more active agents such as immunogens, and silk fibroin at a concentration of about 0.5% (w/v) to about 20% (w/v), or about 1% (w/v) to about 15% (w/v), or about 2% (w/v) to about 10% (w/v)).
  • the weight ratio of the active agent(s) (e.g., immunogen(s)) to silk solution can range from about 1:10 to about 10:1.
  • the weight ratio of the active agent(s) (e.g., immunogen(s)) to silk solution can be around 1:1.
  • the active agent(s) e.g., immunogen(s)
  • silk solution can be around 1:1.
  • active agent(s) e.g., immunogen(s)
  • WO 2011/005381 the content of which is incorporated herein by reference for methods of producing vortex-induced silk fibroin gelation for encapsulation and delivery.
  • other methods for making a silk hydrogel with one or more active agents such as immunogens distributed herein can also be used, such as by sonication (e.g., U.S. Pat. App. No. U.S. 2010/0178304 and International App. No.: WO 2008/150861), or by pH adjustment (e.g., U.S. App. No.: US 2011/0171239).
  • sonication e.g., U.S. Pat. App. No. U.S. 2010/0178304 and International
  • the solid-state silk fibroin can include a silk microsphere.
  • the silk microparticles or nanoparticles can be produced by a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) phase separation method as described in, e.g., International App. No. WO 2011/041395, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
  • PVA polyvinyl alcohol
  • the silk concentration used in the PVA phase separation method can range from about 0.5% (w/v) to about 20% (w/v), or about 1% (w/v) to about 15% (w/v), or about 3% (w/v) to about 10% (w/v).
  • the silk concentration used in the PVA phase separation method can be about 5% (w/v).
  • the weight ratio of active agent(s) (e.g., immunogen(s)) to silk solution can be about 1:300 to about 1:2000, or about 1:500 to about 1:1500. In one embodiment, the weight ratio of active agent(s) (e.g., immunogen(s)) to silk solution can be about 1:1000.
  • Other methods for producing silk microspheres or nanospheres, e.g., described in U.S. App. No. U.S. 2010/0028451 and International App. No.: WO 2008/118133 (using lipid as a template for making silk microspheres or nanospheres), and in Wenk et al. J Control Release 2008; 132: 26-34 (using spraying method to produce silk microspheres or nanospheres) can be used for the purpose of making silk microparticles or nanoparticles encapsulating an active agent such as an immunogen described herein.
  • the silk microspheres or nanospheres can be further embedded in a biopolymer, e.g., to prolong the release of an active agent such as an immunogen over a period of time.
  • the biopolymer can be a silk hydrogel to encapsulate the active agent (e.g., immunogen)-loaded silk microspheres or nanospheres. See, e.g., International App. No.: WO 2010/141133 for methods of producing silk fibroin scaffolds for antibiotic delivery.
  • the solid-state silk fibroin compositions can be subjected to post-treatment, e.g., to modify the degradation rate of the silk fibroin.
  • Additional treatment can include, but are not limited to, organic solvent treatment, mechanical treatment, or electromagnetic treatment.
  • the degradation rate of the silk fibroin can be controlled, e.g., by modifying the amount of beta-sheet crystal, and/or crystal orientation. Accordingly, the amount of beta-sheet crystal, and/or crystal orientation in a silk fibroin can be controlled by contacting the silk fibroin with alcohol, e.g., methanol or ethanol, as established in the art.
  • the silk fibroin can be subjected to a mechanical force, e.g., stretching or shear stress to vary the amount beta-sheet crystal, and/or alignment of the crystal orientation.
  • the silk fibroin can be subjected to an electric filed or pressure.
  • the silk fibroin can be contacted with salt.
  • the release rate of an active agent from a silk fibroin matrix can be controlled by the content of beta-sheet crystalline structures, silk concentration and/or porosity of the silk fibroin matrix.
  • Methods for forming pores in a silk matrix are known in the art, e.g., porogen-leaching method, freeze-drying method, and/or gas-forming method. Such methods are described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. App. Nos.: US 2010/0279112, US 2010/0279112, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,842,780, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • the methods of preparing storage-stable compositions described herein can further comprise reducing the dried solid-state silk fibroin by a mechanical means to obtain micronized particles as defined herein.
  • a mechanical means to obtain micronized particles include micronizing, pulverizing, crushing, grinding, freeze-drying or any combination thereof.
  • compositions described herein are desirably processed under aseptic conditions using components which preliminarily have been rendered bacterially sterile. Sterility on storage can be maintained by incorporation of an antigen-compatible germicidal substance such as thimerosal.
  • the packages can be prepared in various types of containers, which can be selected from the group consisting of a vial, an ampule, a capsule, a tube, a delivery device, a bottle, and a packet.
  • the delivery device is a syringe.
  • the syringe can be needleless.
  • the storage-stable composition contained in a package can be in a form of a hydrogel, gel-like particles, powder, microspheres, nanospheres, or any combinations thereof.
  • the storage-stable composition contained in a package can be lyophilized.
  • the storage-stable composition can be loaded in a syringe for injection.
  • Kits provided herein comprise a package described herein, and a pharmaceutically acceptable solution, e.g., PBS.
  • the kits can further comprise at least one delivery device for administering a composition or a preparation described herein to a subject.
  • the kits can further comprise a disinfectant.
  • such packages, and kits described herein can be used for vaccination purposes.
  • a “subject” means a human or animal. Usually the animal is a vertebrate such as a primate, rodent, domestic animal or game animal. Primates include chimpanzees, cynomologous monkeys, spider monkeys, and macaques, e.g., Rhesus. Rodents include mice, rats, woodchucks, ferrets, rabbits and hamsters.
  • domestic and game animals include cows, horses, pigs, deer, bison, buffalo, feline species, e.g., domestic cat, canine species, e.g., dog, fox, wolf, avian species, e.g., chicken, emu, ostrich, and fish, e.g., trout, catfish and salmon.
  • the subject is a mammal, e.g., a primate, e.g., a human.
  • a subject can be male or female.
  • the subject is a mammal.
  • the mammal can be a human, non-human primate, mouse, rat, dog, cat, horse, or cow, but are not limited to these examples.
  • the methods and compositions described herein can be used to treat domesticated animals and/or pets.
  • Embodiments of a delivery device comprises at least one chamber with an outlet, wherein the at least one chamber comprises a pre-determined amount of the composition described herein, and the outlet provides an exit for the composition.
  • chamber refers to any structure configured to store and/or convey a composition described herein.
  • the chamber can be of any shape or any size, depending on users' applications, needs, and/or preferences.
  • An exemplary chamber includes, but is not limited to, a barrel, a tube, a cassette, and a depression, e.g., a microwell.
  • the delivery device described herein can further comprise an actuator to control release of the composition through the outlet, thereby administering the composition therein to a subject.
  • an actuator is a mechanical device that can convert any kind of energy to move the composition through the outlet of the device.
  • an actuator can convert electrical energy to move or control release of the composition through the outlet.
  • an actuator can convert pressure to remove or control release composition through the outlet.
  • a plunger of a syringe converts force or pressure to release a composition from the barrel (chamber), thereby injecting the composition to a subject.
  • Examples of delivery devices described herein include, but are not limited to, a syringe, a dry powder injector, a nasal spray, a nebulizer, and an implant.
  • an implant can be a microchip, e.g., the ones described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,797,898; 6,669,683; 7,052,488; and 7,582,080.
  • the delivery devices can be used for vaccination.
  • vaccine delivery devices/systems can include, but are not limited to, the ones described in U.S.
  • pre-determined amount is generally used in reference to an amount of a composition desired and/or determined by a user, e.g., depending on applications or treatment.
  • pre-determined amount refers to an amount of a composition effective to treat or prevent a disease or a disorder, e.g., increasing immunity to the disease; reducing, inhibiting or delaying at least one symptom of the disease; or producing an improvement in the disease, for example, beneficial or desired clinical results.
  • beneficial or desired clinical results include, but are not limited to, alleviation of one or more symptoms, diminishment of extent of disease, stabilized (e.g., not worsening) state of disease, delay or slowing of disease progression, amelioration or palliation of the disease state, and remission (whether partial or total), whether detectable or undetectable.
  • treating can refer to prolonging survival as compared to expected survival if not receiving treatment.
  • a treatment may improve the disease condition, but may not be a complete cure for the disease.
  • pre-determined amount can mean an amount of the composition effective to provide or increase immunity to a particular disease.
  • a blood test or any methods known to a skilled artisan can be used to check immunity.
  • the delivery device comprises an effective dose of immunogenic or vaccine composition.
  • MMR® II measles, mumps and rubella virus vaccine live
  • This lyophilized live virus vaccine contains the Enders' attenuated Edmonston measles, the Jeryl Lynn mumps, and the Wistar RA 27/3 rubella viruses.
  • the vaccine Prior to use, the vaccine is reconstituted in the provided diluent and each 0.5 mL dose contains no less than 1,000 TCID 50 (tissue culture infectious doses) of measles virus; 12,500 TCID 50 of mumps virus; and 1,000 TCID 50 of rubella virus.
  • Manufacture conditions state that the vaccine must be used within 8 hours of reconstitution and stored at 4° C.
  • Each dose of the vaccine is calculated to contain sorbitol (14.5 mg), sodium phosphate, sucrose (1.9 mg), sodium chloride, hydrolyzed gelatin (14.5 mg), recombinant human albumin ( ⁇ 0.3 mg), fetal bovine serum ( ⁇ 1 ppm), other buffer and media ingredients and approximately 25 mcg of neomycin.
  • the product contains no preservative.
  • the lyophilized vaccine is a light yellow compact crystalline plug.
  • a mixture of sterilized 9% (w/v) silk solution and reconstituted MMR vaccine was prepared at a concentration of 1:1 by weight ratio of MMR to silk solution. Films were then cast onto a Teflon-coated surface. The films were allowed to dry in a sterile hood for 24 hr at room temperature (RT). A sample of reconstituted vaccine in solution for 24 hr was also prepared for comparison.
  • a standard curve was generated by reconstituting the vaccine, considered as the 1 log 10 dilution, and the vaccine solution was then serially diluted in 0.5 log 10 steps from 1.5 log 10 to 3.5 log 10 .
  • the silk films were redissolved in an aliquot of water that diluted the final concentration of vaccine in the solution to 1.5 log 10 .
  • Vero cells African green monkey kidney cells; ATCC, Manassas, Va.
  • Vero cells Africann green monkey kidney cells; ATCC, Manassas, Va.
  • 50 ⁇ L of the vaccine dilution, redissolved silk film, and 24 hr-stored reconstituted vaccine were added to a well of Vero cells, in triplicate.
  • the virus was allowed to replicate in the cell for 3 days, then the RNA from the infected cells isolated, converted to cDNA and quantitated using qPCR.
  • the results of the qPCR infectivity assay show a linear relationship between the increase of vaccine dilution and the greater the Ct value ( FIG. 1 ).
  • the assay produced expected results as the low vaccine dilution contained a greater quantity of viable viruses, therefore producing a lower Ct value.
  • the results for the silk-encapsulated vaccine sample and the reconstituted vaccine sample can be quantified by extrapolating the final log 10 dilution from their Ct values.
  • the log 10 dilution values were then converted into potency values of log 10 TCID 50 /dose.
  • the log 10 TCID 50 /dose values of the MMR-silk films were then related to the log 10 TCID 50 /dose of the original dilution at which they were casted (1.5 log 10 dilution), producing the residual potency.
  • the reconstituted control vaccine stored at RT for 24 hours produced no Ct values, indicating that it had lost nearly, if not all, its potency.
  • the initial potencies recovered from the MMR-silk films for measles, mumps and rubella were 75.89%, 58.04% and 62.48%, respectively (Table 1).
  • the vaccine potency decreases significantly the longer it remains in solution.
  • Vaccine samples in solution for 24 hr prior to cell inoculation exhibited no residual potency for any of the viral components.
  • the silk exhibited a stabilizing effect on the vaccine.
  • FIG. 3 after 3 months of storage at room temperature, the silk films retained 96%, 92% and 80% potency for the measles, mumps and rubella virus, respectively.
  • the results indicate that MMR vaccines stored in only unprocessed silk films are capable of extending the potency of the commercially prepared lyophilized vaccine at RT.
  • OPV Oral polio virus vaccine
  • MgCl 2 stabilizer MgCl 2 stabilizer
  • stabilizing additives include sucrose, magnesium sulfate and magnesium chloride (Mirchamsy et al., 1978; Rapp et al., 1965). MMR-silk films were then prepared from solutions of MMR, silk, and stabilizer. The initial recovery of MMR-films stabilized with 1M MgCl 2 , 1M MgSO 4 and 70% sucrose is shown in FIG. 4 .
  • MgCl 2 is an excellent stabilizer for OPV, it had negatively stabilizing effects on measles, mumps, and rubella.
  • MgSO 4 provided the best stabilization of the measles component of the vaccine but little effect on mumps and had negative effects on rubella.
  • Sucrose acted as a stabilizer for all three components of the MMR vaccine.
  • the initial recovery of the viral components stabilized in sucrose shows an improvement over the initial recovery of MMR-silk only films (Table 1).
  • reconstitution of the vaccine in 70% sucrose solution in RT FIG. 5
  • vaccine reconstituted in 70% sucrose also provided better stability at 4° C. and 37° C. ( FIG. 6 ).
  • stabilizing additives such as sucrose may minimize the initial loss of vaccine activity during the film preparation.
  • the sucrose can stabilize the vaccine during the film drying process while the MMR and silk are still in solution.
  • the silk can be molded into a variety of delivery systems including films, hydrogels, microspheres and microneedles, capable of being tailored for specific stabilization and delivery needs. This material system has may be used ex vivo or in vivo as delivery vehicles due to the biocompatibility and FDA-approved history of silk use in biomedical devices.
  • the silk films were prepared with a weight ratio of vaccine to silk of 1:1. Initial recovered vaccine potency was determined directly after the films were prepared to determine how much vaccine infectivity was lost during the film fabrication process.
  • the lyophilized vaccine In order to incorporate the vaccine into the silk solution, the lyophilized vaccine must be reconstituted. The lyophilized vaccine was reconstituted immediately prior to cell inoculation. Once the freeze-dried vaccine has been reconstituted, potency decreases rapidly (Galazka, 1998; WHO 2006) and according the manufacturer's specifications, the MMR vaccine must be used within 8 hours of reconstitution or otherwise discarded. Once completely dried, the films, containing the same amount of lyophilized vaccine, were dissolved in sterile water and the solution was added to the Vero cells for potency testing.
  • the potency results of the silk films were compared to the potency of the lyophilized vaccine to establish an initial recovered potency.
  • the initial residual potency observed from the MMR-silk films are summarized in Table 2 with 84.7%, 73.9%, and 87.0% residual potency of the measles, mumps, and rubella components, respectively.
  • Enough vaccine entrapped silk films were fabricated with this method of air-drying and stored for a 6 month study to assess long-term stability at four different temperatures (4° C., 25° C., 37° C. and 45° C.).
  • four different temperatures (4° C., 25° C., 37° C. and 45° C.).
  • lyophilized vaccine was reconstituted in the diluents provided by the manufacturer and the solutions were stored at 4° C., 25° C. and 37° C. ( FIG. 8A-8C ). Potency measurements were taken after 6 hours, 12 hours, 18 hours and 24 hours after reconstitution.
  • lyophilized MMR-silk films were prepared to shorten the MMR-silk solution stage.
  • the lyophilization process significantly improved the long-term thermal stability of the vaccine in the silk films.
  • Table 2 compared to the initial potency recovered from the air-dried silk films, the lyophilized films improved the recovery of measles, mumps, and rubella to 94.7%, 89.6%, 98.4%, respectively
  • Vaccine stability was quantitatively expressed as the residual potency observed from the films after storage. Residual potency was measured and compared with the initial residual potency (Table 2) to demonstrate vaccine stability. Measuring the residual potency of all the viral components of the vaccine stored in silk films over six months, with the exception of storage at 4° C., the general trend showed that the silk films enhanced stabilization of the measles, mumps, and rubella viral particles by displaying higher residual potencies when compared to the manufacturer's lyophilized vaccine stored at the same temperature.
  • FIGS. 9A-9D show the comparison of residual potency of the measles component of the vaccine for silk films and lyophilized MMR vaccine powder stored for six months at 4° C., 25° C., 37° C.
  • the silk films showed greater residual potency of the vaccine. Even at 4° C., the residual potency of the silk films was similar that of the MMR powder. While the residual potency of the powder did not fluctuate, the silk films displayed greater variance in measured potency at this temperature. For the first 3 months the silk films outperformed the powder with greater recovered residual potency. In the last 3 months the silk films displayed a slight decrease in residual potency while that of the powder remained relatively constant. At the end of the six month study, the residual potency of the measles component of the MMR vaccine stored in silk films was 87.2% compared to 92.2% for the powder.
  • the silk films show improved measles residual potency when stored at 25° C., 37° C. and 45° C. Stored at 25° C., the silk films showed greater recovered potency at each time point and at the end of the six months displayed 83.9% recovered potency compared to 74.5% for the powder.
  • the lyophilized silk films were initially prepared to improve the initial recovery of vaccine lost during the film fabrication process, they provided even greater stabilization of the vaccines at elevated temperature.
  • the residual potency of the measles, mumps, and rubella components stored in the lyophilized silk films are shown in FIGS. 12A-12D , 13 A- 13 D, and 14 A- 14 D, respectively. Regardless of the storage temperature, the lyophilized films provided comparable levels of stabilization to all components of the vaccine. While the lyophilized silk films showed improved stabilization and residual potency recovered over all the temperatures, the level of stabilization was more dramatic at the higher temperatures. After 6 months of storage, the lyophilized silk films retained 85.2% and 85.1% of the residual measles potency at 37° C.
  • the degradation rate, k obs for each temperature was calculated by linear regression of the log 10 drop of virus titer against the exposure time in weeks. The slopes of the resulting curves represent the degradation rates.
  • the virus half-lives (t 1/2 ) at each temperature and the corresponding 95% confidence interval were then calculated from the k obs and their standard errors. The virus half-life is the predicted half-life or time required for the average potency to decrease to 50% of the initial value.
  • the estimated degradation rates and corresponding half-lives for each viral component and vaccine encapsulation method are summarized in Table 3 and the half-lives are plotted against temperature in FIG. 16A-16C .
  • the degradation rates of the three systems over the range of temperatures tested also fitted well on the Arrhenius plot ( FIG. 14A-15C ). As seen from the plot, the values for the slope of the powder vaccine form were consistently higher than both the silk systems, indicating the rates of degradation of the powder increased faster with an increase in storage temperature.
  • the silk- and lyophilized silk-encapsulated vaccine systems exhibited lower degradation rates over the powder vaccine at 25° C., 37° C. and 45° C. for the measles, mumps and rubella components.
  • the decreased degradation rates correspond to an increase in predicted half-lives. From the Table, the trends appear similar for all the viral components and show that at elevated temperatures, the silk films increased the half-lives of the vaccine over the powder formulation with the lyophilized silk films showing dramatic improvements of vaccine half-lives over both the powder and silk films.
  • the degradation rates and predicted half-lives significantly increased and decreased, respectively, for both the powder and silk film formulations.
  • the lyophilized silk film samples maintained slow degradation rates across all the tested storage temperatures. Evaluating the change in rate of degradation of the measles component from 4° C. to 45° C., the powder vaccine exhibited a 1.444% increase in degradation rate from 0.0136 ⁇ 0.0025 to 0.0401 ⁇ 0.0010 log 10 TCID 50 /weeks, while the MMR-silk film and lyophilized MMR-silk film had a 195% increase from 0.0.139 ⁇ 0.0261 to 0.009 ⁇ 0.0005 log 10 TCID 50 /weeks and 42% increase from 0.0128 ⁇ 0.0019 to 0.009 ⁇ 0.0001 log 10 TCID 50 /weeks in degradation rate over the temperature range, respectively.
  • the mumps and rubella components exhibit similar trends.
  • the temperature dependence of the vaccine degradation rates was further evaluated using regression analysis. From plot of drop of virus titer against time (not shown) for the powder, silk film and lyophilized silk film systems, the data can be reasonably approximated by a straight line, exhibiting pseudo zero-order behavior. The plot of virus titer drop against time corresponds to and exhibits similar trends to the residual potency curves. As seen from the plot, a linear response of change in viral concentration suggests that the degradation mechanism follows zero-order kinetics. Though upon closer inspection of the data, the linearity of the drop of virus titer against time decreases at long time intervals. These data suggest that the degradation rate may deviate from zero-order behavior and decrease over longer periods of time.
  • the kinetic model of the degradation of the vaccine over time is therefore considered a pseudo zero-order model.
  • Pseudo reaction orders are encountered in drug stability studies as only the change in concentration of the active pharmaceutical ingredient is usually monitored over time, while other reactants and buffer components are in large excess though not analyzed (Zhou et al., 2009).
  • a first-order reaction can appear to be a zero-order reaction, or pseudo zero-order.
  • the rate of the reaction does not depend on the concentration of the reactant and is constant.
  • the zero-order rate equation is as follows
  • C t is the measured potency in log 10 TCID 50 at time t
  • C 0 is the measured potency at time zero
  • k obs is the degradation rate determined by linear regression
  • t is the time of storage in weeks.
  • the predicted half-life, t 1/2 is the time required for the average potency to decrease to 50% of the initial value. The half-life for each temperature was estimated by the equation
  • the MMR vaccine is supplied in freeze-dried form and the presence of stabilizers in the vaccine to reduce the moisture content have greatly improved their thermal stability (Galazka et al., 1998).
  • the shelf life of lyophilized vaccines is dependent on both adherence to the cold chain and maintenance of low residual moisture content. As the storage temperature increases, so does the amount of water present in the air.
  • the MMR-silk films were fabricated and air-dried at ambient conditions therefore had a higher initial residual moisture than both the lyophilized MMR powder and the lyophilized MMR-silk films.
  • the residual moisture of the MMR-silk films calculated immediately after determination of a dried state was determined to be 4.42% ⁇ 0.65.
  • the residual moisture of the MMR powder and lyophilized MMR-silk films were calculated to be 2.39% ⁇ 0.23 and 1.89% ⁇ 0.13, respectively. With the exception of MMR-silk films, storage of the lyophilized vaccine systems after six months at 4° C. produced very little change in residual moisture. In fact, the residual moisture of the lyophilized films stored for six months at all the temperature points exhibited very little aberration from the initially measured value, displaying only a net increase of 6.9% in residual moisture from the initial value to the highest recorded value at 45° C. Due to the processing conditions, the MMR-silk films had higher residual moisture, but the net increase to the highest residual moisture value recorded at six months of storage at 45° C.
  • the vaccine was then purified to remove the added excipients.
  • the resulting solution contained purified viral particles suspended in sterile, nuclease-free water.
  • nano-DSC was run on these samples.
  • the nano-DSC thermogram ( FIG. 18 ) of the purified viral particles in water showed a Tm at 16.8° C., indicating the viral proteins were undergoing a conformational change.
  • the solution of purified viral particles in silk showed an elevated Tm at 68.3° C.
  • thermogram of silk solution is still shown to illustrate that neither of the Tg values can be attributed to a change in the silk structure.
  • the average mean effective diameter of a naked viral particle is around 250 nm. This is consistent with reported values of measles, mumps and rubella (Russell et al., 1967; Hall and Martin, 1973). The results indicated that the purified virus solution showed an increase in mean effective diameter around 16° C., indicating the presence of protein aggregation.
  • the DLS of the viral particles in silk solution did not show an increase in the mean effective diameter until around 70° C., showing protein aggregation at a more elevated temperature.
  • the results of the DLS correspond well with the results of the nano-DSC as the aggregation detected by light scattering occur within the temperature range of the protein unfolding measured by DSC.
  • the 16% silk hydrogels were able to extend the release further as only 73.53% of the vaccine was released by day 8.
  • Vaccine release from silk microspheres showed greater potential as an extended and sustained release system.
  • increasing the silk concentration of the microspheres slowed the release rate; the 16% silk microspheres released 65.35% of the loaded vaccine by day 8.
  • the relative linearity of the release from the 16% silk microspheres is also of interest as the regression coefficient (R 2 ) for the curve was 0.988, indicating nearly zero-order release.
  • MMR® II a live attenuated measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, is provided as a lyophilized preparation to be reconstituted at time of use. Prior to reconstitution, the vaccine must be stored at 2 to 8° C. and will be stable for 24 months, and once reconstituted must be used within 8 hours.
  • the WHO requirement for heat stability of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines employs two indices of stability: 1) the vaccine should retain at least 1,000 live virus particles in each human dose after incubation at 37° C. for seven days; and 2) the virus titre should not have decreased by more than 1 log 10 during storage (WHO, 1982; WHO 1994).
  • Live viruses vaccines unlike other vaccine forms, depend on their immunogenicity to establish an appropriate immune response, which requires the retention of a sufficient numbers of live viral particles. Storage of these thermally labile viral particles requires the addition of stabilizers.
  • Each dose of MMR® II is stabilized in 14.5 mg sorbitol, sodium phosphate, 1.9 mg sucrose, sodium chloride, 14.5 mg hydrolyzed gelatin, ⁇ 0.3 mg recombinant human albumin, ⁇ 1 ppm fetal bovine serum, other buffer and media ingredients and approximately 25 ⁇ g of neomycin.
  • Measles and mumps belong to the Paramyxovirus family, characterized as an enveloped virus containing the nucleocapsid that encloses the single-stranded negative-sense viral RNA surrounded by fusion (F) and haemagglutinin (H) glycoproteins expressed on the surface of the virus ( FIG.
  • rubella belongs to the Togavirus family and is an enveloped virus with two virus-specific glycoproteins E1 and E2 that surround a icosahedral nucleocapsid enclosing single-stranded positive-sense viral RNA (Dorsett et al., 1985; Nakhasi et al., 1991).
  • the method of infection of paramyxoviruses involve the attachment of the virus to the CD46 and CD150 receptors of host cells by interaction between both the haemagglutinin (H) glycoprotein and fusion (F) glycoprotein ( FIG. 22C ) (Wild et al., 1991; Malvoisin and Wild, 1993; Moss and Griffin, 2006). Fusion of the virus and cell allow for viral entry and release of viral nucleic material into the cell.
  • the main cause of viral inactivation is disruption of viral surface proteins and stresses such as elevated temperatures can induce conformational changes in the viral proteins (Rexroad et al., 2006; Ausar et al., 2006).
  • the improvement in vaccine stability provided by silk protein was more pronounced at the elevated temperatures of 37° C. and 45° C., while the stability was comparable or slightly better than the manufactured powder form stored at 4° C. and 25° C.
  • the lyophilized vaccine is stabilized with a variety of excipients that according to the manufacturer should remain stable and active for at least two years. Vaccine spoilage, however, occurs when the cold chain is broken and the vaccine is stored above refrigeration temperature. In such cases, silk would provide sufficient stability to the vaccine to maintain stability over a range of environmental conditions.
  • Lyophilization of the MMR-silk films improved initial vaccine potency recovered as the longer the viral particles remained in the hydrated state, the more likely they are to be exposed to degradative reactions such as hydrolysis and deamidation that may contribute to instability (Li, 1994).
  • the continued enhanced stabilization provided by the lyophilized silk films over six months in storage could also be due in part to the conditions of storage for the lyophilized films. While the regular silk films were stored in Eppendorf tubes, the lyophilized films were stored in vacuum-sealed vials with low residual moisture content.
  • the silk films provide increased stability at elevated temperatures even with the handicap of additional moisture.
  • the lyophilized vaccine powder has been formulated to remain stable at the optimum temperature range of 2 to 8° C. This advantage of lyophilization could also explain the success of the lyophilized silk films at stabilizing the vaccine as they provide the stability offered by both the silk and lyophilization.
  • the sold-state DSC ( FIG. 17 ) showed a Tg of the MMR powder at 68.9° C. This value, however, can be misleading as it may not reflect the Tg and corresponding structural change of the viral particles themselves but rather an averaged value from the contributions of the various protein excipients and stabilizers already present in the MMR powder vaccine formulation.
  • MMR-silk film showed a Tg at 89.2° C., indicating a shift in the Tg of the vaccine due to the presence of the silk.
  • the thermogram of the lyophilized MMR-silk film also showed the presence of two exothermic peaks at 116.6° C. and 164.8° C. The peak at 116.6° C.
  • the vaccine was purified to remove excipients. Since the result of the purification is a liquid preparation, the viral particles are in a less stable environment. Therefore, the viral particle solution was stored at ⁇ 80° C. until used.
  • the Tm by nano-DSC appeared when a protein unfolds, exposing the hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions to the aqueous buffer solution. Adjacent hydrophobic protein molecules will aggregate to shield these regions from the surrounding aqueous solution. Because the unfolded state of proteins have more surface area than the native state, the degree of preferential exclusion offered by the stabilizing agent of silk from the less structured state would raise the chemical potential of this stabilized form even above that of the native state (Brandau et al, 2003).
  • the elevated Tm of the vaccine-encapsulated silk solution is due to structural stabilization provided by the silk to prevent viral protein denaturation and aggregation.
  • the Tm value at 16.8° C. is likely due to the unfolding of the viral surface glycoproteins (F and N of measles and mumps and E1 and E2 of rubella) due to the elevated heat applied to the viral particles.
  • This denaturation most likely leads to the aggregation of the viral particles ( FIG. 22D ), preventing them from binding and fusing with the animal cells ( FIG. 22C ), leading to loss of infectivity of the viral particles and vaccine as a whole.
  • Unfolding of a protein is usually associated with an increase in its hydrodynamic size as the partial or fully unfolded proteins states are unstable and form aggregates (Roberts, 2007).
  • the results of the light scattering indicated that the naked viral particles aggregated at a much lower temperature than a solution of viral particles in silk.
  • the onset of particle aggregation as verified by DLS occurs around the same temperature of protein unfolding as shown by DSC, indicating the protein unfolding directly resulted in aggregation.
  • the DLS results corroborate the results of the DSC that the silk provides structural stability to the viral particles, particularly to the viral surface glycoproteins, preventing intermolecular collisions and thus minimizing aggregation at elevated temperatures.
  • Humidity can also have a significant effect on vaccine products as the excess water introduced to the system can lead to increase in mobility and corresponding reactivity of the viral proteins (Waterman and Adami, 2005).
  • the residual moisture analysis of the films reveal that over the course of the stability testing the increase in residual moisture, especially in the high temperature ranges, is most likely due to the lack of moisture-controlled environment provided by the Eppendorf tubes.
  • MMR powder and lyophilized MMR-silk films were stored in low humidity conditions as they are extremely hygroscopic, provided by the lyophilization vials and stopper, and sealed in a nitrogen-rich environment, the MMR-silk films were stored in Eppendorf tubes that would allow greater chances for absorption of the atmospheric humidity into the containers than the vacuum-sealed vials.
  • the increased water activity in the Eppendorf tubes is also due to the amount of initial water associated with the silk films, already at a higher level than both the powder and lyophilized films, and the initial packaging relative humidity.
  • the percent increase of the residual moisture in the powder over the tested temperature range is greater than that observed in the silk films.
  • the increase in temperature appears to have had a greater impact in the temperature-induced moisture in the powder than the silk films. It would appear the silk provided an inhibition of molecular mobility during storage to prevent protein unfolding and subsequent aggregation whereas the increased water activity in powder resulting from temperature-induced moisture, without the conformational stability provided by the silk, increased viral protein aggregation.
  • Vaccine-loaded silk films and lyophilized silk films were untreated and water-soluble. They have the potential to be molded into delivery formats such as microneedles, a safe and pain-free alternative to transdermal drug delivery over hypodermic needles (Tsioris et al., 2011). Conceivably, a patch could be applied to the skin and the vaccine-loaded silk microneedles would puncture the skin, the silk needles would dissolve and release the vaccine subcutaneously. The release profile of the silk films show promise toward this goal.
  • the release studies for the silk films and lyophilized silk films were conducted in a gelatin hydrogel due to a consistency analogous to tissue (Wightmas et al., 2007).
  • the silk films cast from 4% and 8% silk displayed similar release profiles ( FIG. 20A-20B ), showing an initial burst of release followed by a decreased rate of release.
  • the 4% silk film exhibited a more rapid release due to the lower concentration of silk protein, allowing the vaccine to diffuse faster from the matrix while also allowing the film to dissolve more rapidly.
  • the release rate slowed due to the increased ⁇ -sheet content of the film, forming a more rigid matrix and slowing the diffusion of vaccine into the hydrogel.
  • the release profiles of the lyophilized silk films showed a more pronounced initial burst effect. Rather than the vaccine quickly diffusing from the silk upon initial contact with the hydrogel, the initial burst from the lyophilized films was most likely due to the rapid dissolution of the lyophilized films. The subsequent release was likely due to the diffusion of the vaccine from the undissolved film. For the same reason as the silk films, the 4% lyophilized silk films exhibited a faster release profile than the 8%. While the time scale of silk film release was on the order hours, 96.85% of the encapsulated MMR was released by 90 minutes.
  • Vaccine-silk delivery vehicles were also fabricated in insoluble formats of silk hydrogels and microspheres. These forms could be incorporated into injectable vaccine delivery that forms a subcutaneous vaccine depot able to slowly release the vaccine over an extended period of time.
  • the hydrogels and microspheres released the vaccine over a period of days.
  • the slower drug release can be explained by diffusion of the vaccine, limited by the increased ⁇ -sheet content of the hydrogels and microspheres.
  • concentration of the hydrogels and microspheres was increased, the linearity of release of improved, corresponding to a decrease in release rate.
  • Increasing the silk concentration of the hydrogels resulted in a decrease in vaccine release rate.
  • Vaccine-encapsulated silk films and lyophilized silk films provide a highly effective carrier for the long-term thermostabilization of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
  • Both silk film systems were able to increase the half-lives of all three viral components of the vaccine compared to the manufacturer supplied vaccines at 25° C., 37° C. and 45° C.
  • the silk reduces the temperature-induced viral protein unfolding and subsequent aggregation by reducing the residual moisture of the samples during storage at elevated temperatures and also providing structural stability to the vaccine to elevate the temperature at which the viral proteins denature.
  • the silk carriers can be fabricated into different delivery vehicles capable of tailoring the release kinetics of the vaccine. This silk carrier system provides a novel vaccine delivery system easily fabricated without special processing considerations and capable of maintaining the potency of the vaccine without the need for strict adherence to the cold chain.
  • Each 0.5 mL dose contains sorbitol (14.5 mg), sodium phosphate, sucrose (1.9 mg), sodium chloride, hydrolyzed gelatin (14.5 mg), recombinant human albumin ( ⁇ 0.3 mg), fetal bovine serum ( ⁇ 1 ppm), other buffer and media ingredients and approximately 25 ⁇ g of neomycin.
  • Silk fibroin aqueous solutions were prepared as previously described (Wang et al., 2008). Cocoons of B. mori silkworm silk were boiled for 30 minutes in an aqueous solution of 0.02 M Na 2 CO 3 and then thoroughly rinsed with dI water to extract the sericin. After drying, the silk was dissolved in a 9.3 M LiBr solution at 60° C. for 4-6 hours and then dialyzed in distilled water using Slide-a-Lyzer dialysis cassettes (MWCO 3,500, Pierce) for 48 hours. The solution was centrifuged to remove silk aggregates and other insoluble residues. The final concentration of silk fibroin was approximately 9% (w/v). The solutions were then autoclaved for sterility.
  • Lyophilized vaccine powder was reconstituted in sterile water and loaded into 0.5 kDa dialysis tubing (Sigma Aldrich) and dialyzed against a 0.15M NaCl solution to remove the excipients from the vaccine solution.
  • the recovered vaccine solution was then run through a PD-10 desalting column (GE Healthcare) to remove excess salt. The spin protocol was followed per manufacturer specifications.
  • the recovered purified viral particle solution was collected and stored in an Eppendorf tube at ⁇ 80° C. until use.
  • FIG. 7 The process for vaccine-encapsulated silk film fabrication is illustrated in FIG. 7 .
  • a mixture of sterilized 9% (w/v) silk solution and lyophilized MMR vaccine were prepared at a concentration of 1:1 by weight ratio of MMR to silk solution. Films were then cast onto a Teflon-coated surface. The films were allowed to dry in a sterile hood for 12 hours at room temperature, protected from light. Individual films were placed in Eppendorf tubes, under ambient conditions, and stored at 4° C., 25° C., 37° C. and 45° C. for stability studies.
  • MMR-silk solutions (1:1 weight ratio) were aliquoted into 96-well plates and freeze dried using a VirTis 25L Genesis SQ Super XL-70 Freeze Dryer. The samples were frozen at ⁇ 45° C. for 480 minutes. The primary drying occurred at ⁇ 20° C. for 2,400 minutes and secondary drying at 35° C. for 620 minutes. The samples were held at ⁇ 45° C. until they were removed from the lyophilizer. The films were then removed from the well plates and transferred to 5 cc glass serum vials.
  • the silk solution was adjusted to concentrations of 2-5 wt % and then autoclaved for sterility. Then 1 mL of the silk solution was transferred into an autoclaved 2 mL Fisher glass vial, and the solution was mixed in the glass vial for 7 minutes at 3,200 rpm using a Fisher vortexer. The turbid solution was collected and transferred into 2 mL Eppendorf tubes, the vaccine was gently mixed into the solution at a 1:1 wt. ratio solution. The vaccine-silk solution was incubated in the Eppendorf tube at room temperature until gelation. The gels were then refrigerated for longer term storage.
  • Vaccine powder was added to a 5 wt % silk solution to reach a weight ratio of 1:1000. This solution was gently blended with a 5% (w/v) PVA (polyvinyl alcohol, mol wt 30,000-70,000, Sigma Aldrich) stock solution. Using a consistent weight ratio of 1:4, a 5% (w/v) silk-PVA solution was prepared by mixing 1 mL of 5 wt % silk solution with 4 mL of 5 wt % PVA solution. The silk solution was autoclaved for sterility. After mixing, the solution was stirred for 2 hours at room temperature.
  • PVA polyvinyl alcohol
  • the 5% (w/v) solution was transferred to a 35 mm Petri dish.
  • the solution was allowed to dry overnight in a fume hood.
  • the dried films were dissolved in 30 mL of ultrapure water with 10 minutes of gentle shaking at room temperature and then centrifuge at 16,000 rpm for 20 minutes at 4° C. The supernatant was discarded and the pellet resuspended in 30 mL ultrapure water and centrifuged again. The final pellet was suspended in 2 mL of ultrapure water.
  • a standard curve was generated by serially diluting a solution of the only the vaccine reconstituted in sterile water.
  • the reconstituted vaccine considered as the 1 log 10 dilution, and was serially diluted in 0.5 log 10 steps from 1.5 log 10 to 3.5 log 10 .
  • the MMR-silk films (containing 1 log 10 dilution of vaccine) were redissolved in an aliquot of water and the solution was added directly to the cultured cells.
  • Vero cells African green monkey kidney cells
  • ATCC Manassas, Va.
  • RNA from the infected cells was isolated, converted to cDNA and quantitated using qPCR.
  • the initial recovered potency from silk films was determined by comparison of viral infectivity measured from the MMR-silk films to the infectivity of a solution of vaccine alone, containing the same concentration of vaccine as loaded in the silk films. Residual potency in the MMR-silk films was calculated by the viral infectivity measured at the certain time point compared to the initial recovered potency and the residual potency of the vaccine powder in storage was measure by comparison of viral activity compared to the infectivity of the vaccine solution used to determine the initial recovered potency from silk films. As controls, viral activities were also measure for the silk films with no vaccines loaded.
  • PCR reaction were carried out in 50 ⁇ L mixture volumes containing TaqMan Universal PCR Mater Mix (1 ⁇ ) (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.), 0.9 ⁇ M of each PCR primer and 0.25 ⁇ M of the probe with 5 ⁇ L of the cDNA sample.
  • a 114 bp fragment (nt 584-697) was amplified with forward primer (5′-CCCTGAGGGATTCAACATGATTCT-3′), reverse primer (5′-ATCCACCTTCTTAG CTCCGAATC-3′) and probe (5′ FAM-TCTTGCTCGCAAAGGCGGTTACGG-BHQ1 3′) (Hubschen et al., 2008).
  • forward primer (5′-TGATACCCAGACCTGTGTTCAC-3′)
  • reverse primer (5′-GGTCGATGAGG ACGTGTAGG-3′)
  • probe (5′ JOE-GATCACCCAGCACTCCACGCAA-BHQ1 3′) were used to amplify a 129 bp region (nt 195-323) (Hubschen et al., 2008).
  • forward primer (5′-CATAGGAGATATGTGGGG-3′), reverse primer (5′-GTCTTCGCCAACGATG GTGATGATTG-3′) and probe (5′ JOE-CCATGCAGGCGGTCACATTCCGACAA CTGC-TAMRA 3′) were used (Kubar et al., 2004). All primers and probes were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, Mo.). PCR reaction conditions were 2 min at 50° C., 10 min at 95° C., and then 50 cycles at 95° C. for 15 s and 60° C. for 1 min
  • Residual moisture of the lyophilized vaccine powder, MMR-silk films, and lyophilized MMR-silk films was measured by the thermo-gravimetric method, modified from Worrall et al., 2001, that estimates the mean weight of three samples of each vaccine system after drying for one hour at 80° C. The weight of water lost from the dried vaccine system is expressed as a percentage.
  • DSC Differential Scanning Calorimetry
  • the size of the measles, mumps and rubella viral particles as a function of temperature was monitored by DLS.
  • a 400 ⁇ L aliquot of 2 mg/mL sample solution was filtered through a 0.45 ⁇ m syringe filter (GE, Fairfield, Conn.).
  • DLS was conducted using the DynaPro DLS system (Wyatt Technology, Santa Barbara, Calif.) with parameters set at 60 sec acquisition time, 10 number of acquisition and laser power of 75 mW.
  • a 100 ⁇ L aliquot of the sample was transferred into an RNAse-free, DNAse-free, protein-free UVette Eppendorf cuvette to be inserted into the DLS.
  • the effective hydrodynamic diameter was calculated from the diffusion coefficient by the Stokes-Einstein equation using the method of cumulants (Koppel, 1972).

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