About the Authors

William C. Weldon

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Vladimir G. Zarnitsyn

Affiliation School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

E. Stein Esser

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Misha T. Taherbhai

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Dimitrios G. Koutsonanos

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Elena V. Vassilieva

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Ioanna Skountzou

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Mark R. Prausnitz

Affiliation School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Richard W. Compans

rcompan@emory.edu

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have the following interests: M.R.P. is an inventor of patents that have been licensed to companies developing microneedle-based products, i.e. Coated Microstructures and Methods of Manufacture Thereof U.S. patent application 20080213461 which has been exclusively licensed to Apogee Technology. M.R.P. is a founder/shareholder in Clearside Biomedical and Microneedle Systems. This company does not have a direct financial interest in the research in this paper, but could indirectly benefit. For this reason, this study could affect Dr. Prausnitz’s personal financial status. This potential conflict of interest has been disclosed and is overseen by Georgia Tech and Emory University. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: WCW RWC VGZ MRP. Performed the experiments: WCW VGZ ESE MTT. Analyzed the data: WCW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DGK EVV IS. Wrote the paper: WCW RWC MRP.