Enhancing breast cancer immunotherapies with engineered probiotics

This proposal uses novel approaches from synthetic biology to genetically program probiotics to safely deliver therapeutics for breast cancer. Due to their unique property in selectively colonizing tumor necrotic cores, probiotic bacteria can act as specific vehicles for the localized delivery of therapeutics. We will use the probiotic E.coli Nissle 1917, which has been widely and safely tested in humans, to deliver immunotherapeutics to breast cancer metastases. Several therapeutics from the field of immunotherapy will be tested that either activate or recruit the immune system, and efficacy and safety will then be assessed in breast cancer mouse models.