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Review
. 2023 Oct 6:14:1263586.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1263586. eCollection 2023.

Bacterium-like particles derived from probiotics: progress, challenges and prospects

Xinyao Zhou  1 , Mingchun Gao  1 , Xinqi De  1 , Tong Sun  1 , Zhikun Bai  2 , Jilong Luo  1 , Fang Wang  3 , Junwei Ge  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Bacterium-like particles derived from probiotics: progress, challenges and prospects

Xinyao Zhou et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Bacterium-like particles (BLPs) are hollow peptidoglycan particles obtained from food-grade Lactococcus lactis inactivated by hot acid. With the advantage of easy preparation, high safety, great stability, high loading capacity, and high mucosal delivery efficiency, BLPs can load and display proteins on the surface with the help of protein anchor (PA), making BLPs a proper delivery system. Owning to these features, BLPs are widely used in the development of adjuvants, vaccine carriers, virus/antigens purification, and enzyme immobilization. This review has attempted to gather a full understanding of the technical composition, characteristics, applications. The mechanism by which BLPs induces superior adaptive immune responses is also discussed. Besides, this review tracked the latest developments in the field of BLPs, including Lactobacillus-derived BLPs and novel anchors. Finally, the main limitations and proposed breakthrough points to further enhance the immunogenicity of BLPs vaccines were discussed, providing directions for future research. We hope that further developments in the field of antigen delivery of subunit vaccines or others will benefit from BLPs.

Keywords: antigen delivery; bacterium-like particles; carrier-adjuvant; lactic acid bacteria; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Preparation process of BLPs display system. LAB after hot acid treatment left only the PGN shell which is BLP. The protein and PA are fused and expressed in a suitable host, and a linker can be added to enhance flexibility. Mixing the protein-PA solution with BLP produces a strong and stable non-covalent binding, allowing the BLP to be completely covered with protein on the surface. Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Characterization of BLPs. SDS-PAGE analyses of PA fusion protein and BLP particles (A) Reprinted with permission from ref (38). Copyright 2022. Frontiers. lane 1 is protein marker, lane 2 is L. lactis MG1363, lane 3 is BLP particles. Scanning electron microscopic analysis of L. lactis cells (Left) and BLP particles (Right) (B) Reprinted with permission from ref (14). Copyright 2006. ASM journals. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of L. lactis cells (Left) and BLP particles (Right) (C) Reprinted with permission from ref (17). Copyright 2021. Elsevier.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Application of BLPs display system. Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The immune responses of BLPs-based vaccines in different tissues and organs produced by mucosal vaccination. Mucosal immunization of various BLPs-based vaccines can induce the production of various cytokines in the spleen, lymph nodes, lung, stomach, and mucosal tissue, and stimulate the differentiation of native T cells and antibody production. Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Definition of Ω. Lactobacillus (rod shaped) has the minimum Ω angle among the four sets of bacteria Reprinted with permission from ref (73). Copyright 2017. Wiley.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Several classic anchor domains displayed on the surface of LAB. Blue shows anchor domains/motifs, which are coupled to the displayed protein. Created with BioRender.com.
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