Antibiotic susceptibility and virulence factors of bacterial species among cancer patients

El-Sherbiny, Gamal M.; Farghal, Eman E.; Lila, Mohamed K.; Shetaia, Yousseria M.; Mohamed, S.S.; Elswify, Marwa MF.

doi:10.1016/j.biotno.2024.02.002

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Secondly, bacterial-mediated cancer therapy (BMCT) has been investigated primarily using obligate anaerobes like Salmonella and Listeria to target hypoxic regions within tumors 65 . Nevertheless, these opportunistic pathogens 67 are non-native to the human microbiome and the cancer microbiome, and they may not necessarily possess cancer-specific binding properties. Thirdly, commensals have been genetically modified to produce and localize enzymes for diet-mediated colorectal cancer chemoprevention 68 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prodrug-conjugated tumor-seeking commensals for targeted cancer therapy

Shen,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Nat Commun

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Prodrugs have been explored as an alternative to conventional chemotherapy; however, their target specificity remains limited. The tumor microenvironment harbors a range of microorganisms that potentially serve as tumor-targeting vectors for delivering prodrugs. In this study, we harness bacteria-cancer interactions native to the tumor microbiome to achieve high target specificity for prodrug delivery. We identify an oral commensal strain of Lactobacillus plantarum with an intrinsic cancer-binding mechanism and engineer the strain to enable the surface loading of anticancer prodrugs, with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) as a model cancer. The engineered commensals show specific binding to NPC via OppA-mediated recognition of surface heparan sulfate, and the loaded prodrugs are activated by tumor-associated biosignals to release SN-38, a chemotherapy compound, near NPC. In vitro experiments demonstrate that the prodrug-loaded microbes significantly increase the potency of SN-38 against NPC cell lines, up to 10-fold. In a mouse xenograft model, intravenous injection of the engineered L. plantarum leads to bacterial colonization in NPC tumors and a 67% inhibition in tumor growth, enhancing the efficacy of SN-38 by 54%.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%