posted on 2015-12-17, 07:58authored byCarlos Piñero-Lambea, Gustavo Bodelón, Rodrigo Fernández-Periáñez, Angel M. Cuesta, Luis Álvarez-Vallina, Luis Ángel Fernández
In this work we report synthetic
adhesins (SAs) enabling the rational
design of the adhesion properties of E. coli. SAs
have a modular structure comprising a stable β-domain for outer
membrane anchoring and surface-exposed immunoglobulin domains with
high affinity and specificity that can be selected from large repertoires.
SAs are constitutively and stably expressed in an E. coli strain lacking a conserved set of natural adhesins, directing a
robust, fast, and specific adhesion of bacteria to target antigenic
surfaces and cells. We demonstrate the functionality of SAs in vivo, showing that, compared to wild type E.
coli, lower doses of engineered E. coli are
sufficient to colonize solid tumors expressing an antigen recognized
by the SA. In addition, lower levels of engineered bacteria were found
in non-target tissues. Therefore, SAs provide stable and specific
adhesion capabilities to E. coli against target surfaces
of interest for diverse applications using live bacteria.