PEARL: Protein eluting alginate with recombinant lactobacilli

Abstract

Engineered living materials (ELMs) made of bacteria in hydrogels have shown considerable promise for therapeutic applications since they offer the possibility to achieve controlled and prolonged release of complex biopharmaceuticals at low costs and with reduced wastage. While most therapeutic ELMs use E. coli as the living component due to its large genetic toolbox, most live biotherapeutic bacteria in clinical trials are lactic acid bacteria due to the native health benefits they offer. Among these, lactobacilli are the largest family of probiotic bacteria that are being investigated for their therapeutic potential in almost all sites of the body that host a microbiome. A major factor limiting the use of lactobacilli in ELMs is their limited genetic toolbox.