bims-livmat 2025-04-13 papers

Int J Pharm. 2025 Apr 09. pii: S0378-5173(25)00422-3. [Epub ahead of print] 125585

Engineering advanced bacterial therapy for tumor and inflammatory diseases.

Bacteria have emerged as a promising living medicine for diseases in recent years. With rapid advancements in synthetic biology and materials science, engineered bacterial therapy has encountered new opportunities. Leveraging inherent genetic reprogramming capabilities and surface chemistry modification advantages, engineered bacterial therapy enables selective functional recombination and precise spatiotemporal control, thereby enhancing therapeutic efficacy against diseases. This review summarizes the advantages of engineered bacterial therapy and various engineering strategies employed. Moreover, it outlines representative studies of engineered bacterial therapy in the treatment of tumors and inflammatory diseases, summarizing diverse engineered approaches that enhance the efficacy for these conditions, offering novel avenues for efficient disease management. In addition, current limitations and challenges in utilizing engineered bacterial therapy are discussed, providing insights for further innovation in biomedicine. Specifically, the potential and prospects of oral engineered bacteria in treating gastrointestinal tumors and inflammatory diseases have been explored.

Keywords: Chemical modification; Engineered bacteria; Genetic encoding; Living medicine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2025.125585

J Microbiol. 2025 Mar;63(3): e2501021

Recent advances in the Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycle for systems metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Subeen Jeon, Yu Jung Sohn, Haeyoung Lee, Ji Young Park, Dojin Kim, Eun Seo Lee, Si Jae Park.

Existing microbial engineering strategies-encompassing metabolic engineering, systems biology, and systems metabolic engineering-have significantly enhanced the potential of microbial cell factories as sustainable alternatives to the petrochemical industry by optimizing metabolic pathways. Recently, systems metabolic engineering, which integrates tools from synthetic biology, enzyme engineering, omics technology, and evolutionary engineering, has been successfully developed. By leveraging modern engineering strategies within the Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycle framework, these advancements have revolutionized the biosynthesis of valuable compounds. This review highlights recent progress in the metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum, a versatile microbial platform, achieved through various approaches from traditional metabolic engineering to advanced systems metabolic engineering, all within the DBTL cycle. A particular focus is placed C5 platform chemicals derived from L-lysine, one of the key amino acid production pathways of C. glutamicum. The development of DBTL cycle-based metabolic engineering strategies for this process is discussed.

Keywords: C5 chemicals; Corynebacterium glutamicum; Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycle; L-lysine; metabolic engineering; systems metabolic engineering

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71150/jm.2501021

Trends Biotechnol. 2025 Apr 07. pii: S0167-7799(25)00091-5. [Epub ahead of print]

Emerging supramolecular and living materials in oral medicine.

Nicholas G Fischer, Tsung-Yi Lin, Yuanhui Xiang, Ting Sang, Zhou Ye.

Conventional dental materials lack the ability to promote regeneration, necessitating innovative approaches for repairing dental, oral, and craniofacial (DOC) tissues. Supramolecular materials with reversible, tunable interactions, and engineered living materials (ELMs) that mimic natural tissue dynamics, present a promising pathway towards regenerative solutions in oral medicine. This review introduces the potential of these biomaterials, focusing on their applications in oral bioprinting, therapeutic delivery, and organ-on-a-chip (OOC) systems. We discuss the integration of these technologies into clinical applications, and offer insights into future developments that may redefine oral healthcare by enabling the regeneration of complex, dynamic tissue structures and improving therapeutic outcomes in oral diseases.

Keywords: bioprinting; drug delivery; living materials; organ-on-a-chip; supramolecular materials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.03.006