Lactic acid bacteria: reviewing the potential of a promising delivery live vector for biomedical purposes

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have a long history of safe exploitation by humans, being used for centuries in food production and preservation and as probiotic agents to promote human health. Interestingly, some species of these Gram-positive bacteria, which are generally recognized as safe organisms by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are able to survive through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), being capable to reach and colonize the intestine, where they play an important role. Besides, during the last decades, an important effort has been done for the development of tools to use LAB as microbial cell factories for the production of proteins of interest. Given the need to develop effective strategies for the delivery of prophylactic and therapeutic molecules, LAB have appeared as an appealing option for the oral, intranasal and vaginal delivery of such molecules. So far, these genetically modified organisms have been successfully used as vehicles for delivering functional proteins to mucosal tissues in the treatment of many different pathologies including GIT related pathologies, diabetes, cancer and viral infections, among others. Interestingly, the administration of such microorganisms would suppose a significant decrease in the production cost of the treatments agents since being live organisms, such vectors would be able to autonomously amplify and produce and deliver the protein of interest. In this context, this review aims to provide an overview of the use of LAB engineered as a promising alternative as well as a safety delivery platform of recombinant proteins for the treatment of a wide range of diseases.