Materializing safe, on-demand living therapeutics - Harvard Gazette

"One way to achieve this is the use of implantable, synthetically engineered, living cells that can sense injury or disease-associated conditions in their environment and respond by producing the right amount of a therapeutic molecule."

"Bacteria, in particular, are promising as they can thrive in harsh physiological environments within the body, such as infected or inflamed tissues, tissues undergoing mechanical movements, and tumors."

"The E. coli bacteria were equipped with a synthetic gene circuit that allowed them to sense pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria causing infections and then respond by releasing a therapeutic molecule that killed the nearby pathogens."

"Implanted into the joints of mice next to a specialized orthopedic implant designed to help heal femoral injuries, the ILM autonomously and effectively treated infections."

Implantable, synthetically engineered living cells can deliver therapeutic molecules directly at sites of injury or disease. Bacteria can survive in harsh physiological environments such as infected or inflamed tissues, mechanically active tissues, and tumors. Microbial therapies have reached clinical trials but have often failed because microbes could not be contained to specific body locations. An implantable living materials platform addresses containment by encapsulating genetically engineered E. coli within a biomaterial that regulates bacterial growth and resists mechanical stresses. The bacteria use a synthetic gene circuit to detect pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa and release a therapeutic molecule that kills nearby pathogens. Implanted near orthopedic injury sites in mice, the system autonomously treated infections effectively.

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