Transient skin stretching stimulates immune surveillance and promotes vaccine delivery via hair follicles
Upon tissue injury, skin mechano-sensing promotes immune defense and return to homeostasis. However, the impact of acute skin stretching, such as skin rubbing, is poorly understood. Using a model of transient skin stretching, we show that a single instance of skin tension modification induces collagen fiber re-orientation, mechano-transduction in stromal cells, inflammatory mediator production, and immune cell recruitment to the skin. At the same time, skin stretching increases skin permeability without tissue damage via the opening of hair follicles. Furthermore, stretch-induced skin changes lead to the activation and migration of dermal dendritic cells through exposure to skin microbiota-derived compounds. Finally, we harness acute skin stretching to enable needle-free vaccine delivery, promoting antigen accumulation in the lymph nodes and producing a superior response compared to intramuscular injection. Our results shed light on the role of mechanical stimuli in fine-tuning skin immune surveillance and have important implications for drug delivery and mechanobiology.
Authors
- Liang Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5546-5097)
- Stuart Allen Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5078-0250)
- Carsten Flohr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4884-6286)
- Chui Hua Lim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1842-5803)
- Mazen M. S. Aly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1889-6290)
- Konstantin Musiychuk
- Élodie Segura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1795-1921)
- Mohamed Albed Alhnan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9869-6971)
- Rikhav P. Gala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2789-5804)
- Daniel Sebastia‐Saez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8837-7763)
- Renaud Leclère (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8737-6817)
- Faiza Benaouda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4673-4336)
- Sara M. Nasereddin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9801-9293)
- Tao Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3941-1603)
- Darawan Tabtim-On (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4914-2088)
- Mathilde Rieux-Laucat
Institutions
- Applied Science Private University (JO)
- Inserm (FR)
- King's College London (GB)
- Pfizer (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- University of Surrey (GB)
- Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (US)
- Fraunhofer USA (US)
- Institut Curie (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cell Reports
- Published
- 2025-09-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116224
- Primary Topic
- Tendon Structure and Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Joint Programming Initiative A healthy diet for a healthy life
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council