ArticlePloS one2026
A piezoelectric electroporator (Piezopen) for enhanced "naked" RNA vaccine delivery.
Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Low-cost, handheld, multi-pulse electroporators for simplified nucleic acid delivery in skin.Bioengineering & translational medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite the success of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, they still face challenges with high costs, complex manufacturing, off-target biodistribution, and systemic reactogenicity stemming from their inflammatory carriers: lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). While "naked" RNA delivery could in principle solve these issues, studies have suggested that it is infeasible due to rapid degradation by RNases and poor cellular entry, thereby necessitating formulations that enhance intracellular delivery and RNA stability. Now, we challenge this paradigm by showing that a simple and inexpensive (<$1), lighter-derived electroporator with microneedle electrodes (Piezopen) can augment gene expression and immunogenicity to naked mRNA leading to comparable responses to LNPs at low doses. We achieve robust responses in the absence of systemic inflammation and reactogenicity using skin-targeted delivery, administer diverse construct types (i.e., mRNA, self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), circular RNA (circRNA)), and demonstrate cross-species validation in live human skin to derisk subsequent clinical application. Our results introduce Piezopen as an inexpensive, well-tolerated, and efficacious alternative to LNPs for mRNA vaccine delivery, designed to facilitate routine vaccinations and pandemic response.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.