This paper develops a bacterial platform that combines enzyme/prodrug chemotherapy and immunotherapy to enhance antitumor responses with improved safety in a murine tumor model.

Science Translational Medicine · Sep 16, 2026Peer-reviewedCancer Biology

Tumor-specific antibodies elicited by engineered bacteria promote bladder cancer immunotherapy

Mathieu Rouanne, Noah Chen, Dylan L. Mariuzza, Zaofeng Yang, Fangda Li, Kenia de los Santos, Thomas M. Savage, Rosa L. Vincent, Cathy Lee Mendelsohn, Tal Danino, Nicholas Arpaia

This study shows engineered E. coli expressing CXCL13 enhances bladder cancer immunotherapy when combined with PD-1 blockade by promoting tumor-specific antibody responses.

Science Translational Medicine · Jul 22, 2026Peer-reviewedImmunology

Probiotic neoantigen delivery vectors for precision cancer immunotherapy

Andrew Redenti, Jongwon Im, Benjamin J. Redenti, Fangda Li, Mathieu Rouanne, Zeren Sheng, William Y. Sun, Candice R. Gurbatri, Shunyu Huang, Meghna Komaranchath, YoungUk Jang, Jaeseung Hahn, Edward R. Ballister, Rosa L. Vincent, Ana Vardoshivilli, , Nicholas Arpaia

This study engineers probiotic E. coli to deliver neoantigen peptides, enhancing T cell immunity and reducing tumor growth in mice.

Nature · Oct 16, 2024Peer-reviewedSynthetic Biology

A programmable probiotic encapsulation system enhances therapeutic delivery in vivo

Tetsuhiro Harimoto, Jaeseung Hahn, Yuyu Chen, Jongwon Im, Joanna T. Zhang, Nicholas Y. Hou, Fangda Li, Courtney Coker, Kelsey Gray, Nicole Harr, Sreyan Chowdhury, Kelly Pu, Clare A. Nimura, Nicholas Arpaia, Kam W. Leong, Tal Danino

This paper develops a programmable probiotic encapsulation system using synthetic biology to enhance therapeutic delivery in mice by controlling bacterial immunogenicity and survivability.

bioRxiv · Aug 3, 2021 · PreprintSynthetic Biology