Bacterial extracellular vesicle applications in cancer immunotherapy

Kanika Suri; Anisha D'Souza; Di Huang; Aashray Bhavsar; Mansoor Amiji

doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.10.024

Bacterial extracellular vesicle applications in cancer immunotherapy

Bioact Mater. 2022 Oct 31:22:551-566. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.10.024. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Kanika Suri¹, Anisha D'Souza^{2

3}, Di Huang^{2

3}, Aashray Bhavsar², Mansoor Amiji^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
³ Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 20115, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.

Abstract

Cancer therapy is undergoing a paradigm shift toward immunotherapy focusing on various approaches to activate the host immune system. As research to identify appropriate immune cells and activate anti-tumor immunity continues to expand, scientists are looking at microbial sources given their inherent ability to elicit an immune response. Bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs) are actively studied to control systemic humoral and cellular immune responses instead of using whole microorganisms or other types of extracellular vesicles (EVs). BEVs also provide the opportunity as versatile drug delivery carriers. Unlike mammalian EVs, BEVs have already made it to the clinic with the meningococcal vaccine (Bexsero®). However, there are still many unanswered questions in the use of BEVs, especially for chronic systemically administered immunotherapies. In this review, we address the opportunities and challenges in the use of BEVs for cancer immunotherapy and provide an outlook towards development of BEV products that can ultimately translate to the clinic.

Keywords: Bacterial extracellular vesicles; Cancer immunotherapy; Mammalian extracellular vesicles; Membrane vesicles; Outer membrane vesicles.