Encapsulation and delivery of phage as a novel method for gut flora manipulation in situ: A review

Yufan Yang; Hu Du; Geng Zou; Zhiyong Song; Yang Zhou; Hao Li; Chen Tan; Huanchun Chen; Vincent A Fischetti; Jinquan Li

doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.11.048

Encapsulation and delivery of phage as a novel method for gut flora manipulation in situ: A review

J Control Release. 2023 Jan:353:634-649. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.11.048. Epub 2022 Dec 14.

Authors

Yufan Yang¹, Hu Du², Geng Zou¹, Zhiyong Song³, Yang Zhou⁴, Hao Li⁵, Chen Tan⁶, Huanchun Chen⁶, Vincent A Fischetti⁷, Jinquan Li⁸

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, College of Food Science and Technology, Shenzhen Institute of Nutrition and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
² College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
³ College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, College of Food Science and Technology, Shenzhen Institute of Nutrition and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
⁵ Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gent 9000, Belgium.
⁶ College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
⁷ Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York 10065, USA.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, College of Food Science and Technology, Shenzhen Institute of Nutrition and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York 10065, USA; Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518000, China. Electronic address: lijinquan2007@gmail.com.

PMID: 36464065
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.11.048

Abstract

Intestinal flora regulation is an effective method to intervene and treat diseases associated with microbiome imbalance. In addition to conventional probiotic supplement, phage delivery has recently exhibited great prospect in modifying gut flora composition and regulating certain gene expression of gut bacteria. However, the protein structure of phage is vulnerable to external factors during storage and delivery, which leads to the loss of infection ability and flora regulation function. Encapsulation strategy provides an effective solution for improving phage stability and precisely controlling delivery dosage. Different functional materials including enzyme-responsive and pH-responsive polymers have been used to construct encapsulation carriers to protect phages from harsh conditions and release them in the colon. Meanwhile, diverse carriers showed different characteristics in structure and function, which influenced their protective effect and delivery efficiency. This review systematically summarizes recent research progress on the phage encapsulation and delivery, with an emphasis on function properties of carrier systems in the protection effect and colon-targeted delivery. The present review may provide a theoretical reference for the encapsulation and delivery of phage as microbiota modulator, so as to expedite the development of functional material and delivery carrier, as well as the advances in practical application of intestinal flora regulation.

Keywords: Encapsulation carriers; Encapsulation materials; Gut flora regulation; Phage delivery.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Bacteriophages*
Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
Pharmaceutical Preparations
Proteins

Substances

Pharmaceutical Preparations
Proteins