Bacterial outer membrane vesicles and host interactions
By
Sun Nyunt Wai
Professor
Department of Molecular Biology,
Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR),
The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS),
Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Cell membranes of Gram-negative bacteria have a dynamic feature in their release of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). Both pathogenic and nonpathogenic species secrete OMVs during normal growth condition. As a bacterial secretion system, OMVs need to be considered among the means by which bacteria interact with prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in their environment. Naturally produced OMVs from pathogenic bacteria may contain adhesins, toxins, or other immunomodulatory compounds, and they can thereby directly mediate binding and invasion to the target hosts, cause cytotoxicity, or modulate the host immune response. My talk will focus on: OMV-mediated proteins export from pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and interaction of bacterial OMVs with mammalian target cells. Biological nanocarriers derived from diverse natural sources such as microbes and mammalian cells have attracted substantial attention in recent years to use as drug-delivery syatems for the treatment of cancers. Studies of bacterial membrane vesicles will be a valuable contribution to the development of novel biological particles for cancer therapy.