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Published on: May 4, 2015
Engineering and visualization of bacteria for targeting infarcted myocardium
Uyenchi N Le1, Hyung-Seok Kim, Jin-Sook Kwon
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
Summary
Salmonella typhimurium selectively targets and proliferates in infarcted myocardium, offering a novel bacterial vector for targeted delivery of therapeutic agents in myocardial infarction (MI) treatment.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Microbiology
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Current cardiac delivery vectors lack sufficient specificity for myocardial infarction (MI).
- Previous research observed bacterial tropism for hypoxic tumor regions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore bacterial tropism for infarcted myocardium.
- To develop a targeted bacterial delivery system for MI.
Main Methods:
- Investigated tropism of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium strains in infarcted myocardium.
- Utilized a modified Salmonella typhimurium strain (ΔppGpp) engineered to express Renilla luciferase (RLuc8).
- Administered L-arabinose to induce RLuc8 expression and delivery.
Main Results:
- ΔppGpp S. typhimurium selectively accumulated and proliferated in infarcted myocardium without affecting noncardiac tissue.
- Engineered Salmonellae delivered RLuc8 specifically to the infarcted area upon L-arabinose induction.
- Intravenous injection of ΔppGpp S. typhimurium did not trigger significant local or systemic immune responses, as indicated by infarct size, CRP, and procalcitonin levels.
Conclusions:
- Salmonellae can be engineered to target infarcted myocardium.
- This study demonstrates a proof-of-principle for using Salmonellae as a vector for targeted therapeutic agent delivery in MI.
