Cytotoxicity of listeriolysin O produced by membrane-encapsulated Bacillus subtilis on leukemia cells
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Updated: May 27, 2026

High-throughput Measurement of Plasma Membrane Resealing Efficiency in Mammalian Cells
Published on: January 7, 2019
R Stachowiak1, L H Granicka, J Wiśniewski
1Department of Applied Microbiology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland. radeks@biol.uw.edu.pl
Abstract:
Encapsulation of biological material in the permiselective membrane allows to construct a system separating cells from their products, which may find biotechnological as well as biomedical applications in biological processes regulation. Application of a permiselective membrane allows avoiding an attack of the implanted microorganisms on the host. Our aim was to evaluate the performance of Bacillus subtilis encapsulated in an elaborate membrane system producing listeriolysin O, a cytolysin from Listeria monocytogenes, with chosen eukaryotic cells for future application in anticancer treatment. The system of encapsulating in membrane live Bacillus subtilis BR1-S secreting listeriolysin O was proven to exert the effective cytotoxic activity on eukaryotic cells. Interestingly, listeriolysin O showed selective cytotoxic activity on eukaryotic cells: more human leukemia Jurkat T cells were killed than human chronic lymphocytic B cells leukemia at similar conditions in vitro. This system of encapsulated B. subtilis, continuously releasing bacterial products, may affect selectively different types of cells and may have future application in local anticancer treatment.
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