Engineered Endosymbionts that Modulate Primary Macrophage Function and Attenuate Tumor Growth by Shifting the Tumor Microenvironment.

ABSTRACT: Modulating gene expression in macrophages can be used to improve tissue regeneration and redirect tumor microenvironments (TMEs) toward positive therapeutic outcomes. We have developed Bacillus subtilis as an engineered endosymbiont (EES) capable of residing inside the eukaryotic host cell cytoplasm and controlling the fate of macrophages. Secretion of mammalian transcription factors (TFs) from B. subtilis that expresses listeriolysin O (LLO; allowing the EES to escape destruction by the macrophage) modulated expression of surface markers, cytokines, and chemokines, indicating functional changes in a macrophage/monocyte cell line. The engineered B. subtilis LLO TF strains were evaluated in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) by flow cytometry, chemokine/cyto

SUBMITTER: Madsen CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12284892 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature