Programmed Probiotics for Localized Delivery of a Model Biologic to Treat Crohn’s Disease

摘要

Utilizing nonpathogenic bacteria as a delivery vehicle for therapeutics,often referred to as asmart probiotiesa,is a concept increasingly investigated in recent years and has even been explored in clinical trials.Notably,the range of applications is largely limited to ailments of the gastrointestinal tract,but can serve as a promising avenue for targeted therapies.For chronic ailments such as Crohnas Disease(CD),systemic therapies often produce unwanted side effects,and due to poor targeting do not always sufficiently ameliorate symptoms.Bacteria engineered to secrete therapeutics at the site of inflammation in the intestinal tract may serve a more effective approach: a targeted delivery of a medicinal payload could improve treatment efficacy as well as prevent deleterious side effects that arise from systemic treatments.We have developed nonpathogenic E.