2026-09-16 バージニア工科大学（Virginia Tech）
＜関連情報＞
- https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/02/prophylactic-phage-therapy-bryan-hsu-roger-bataglioli.html
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-026-02484-3
プロファージをコードする遺伝子操作細菌により、マウスの腸管感染症に対する予防的溶菌性ファージ療法が可能になる Prophage-encoding engineered bacteria enable prophylactic lytic phage therapy for enteric infection in mice
Rogerio A. Bataglioli,Hiba Baaziz,Hallie F. Avalos,Lindsay Smith,Zachary R. Baker,Rita J. Makhlouf,David da Silva Barreira,Harsimran Kaur,Teresa Southard & Bryan B. Hsu
Nature Microbiology Published:16 September 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02484-3
Abstract
Phage therapy is a promising antibacterial approach but it has limited efficacy against enteric bacterial infections, such as Salmonella enterica Typhimurium (STm). Here we hypothesized that establishing high concentrations of a pathogen-targeting phage in the gut before infection would prophylactically protect against future infection. To this end, we engineered non-pathogenic Escherichia coli to encode a prophage that produces obligately lytic phage progeny targeting STm while overcoming its host defence systems, including restriction–modification systems. We show that prophylactic gut colonization with this lytic phage-producing lysogen of E. coli produces high levels of lytic phage before infection, inhibits the establishment of STm after infection and improves survival in mouse models of STm-induced colitis. Using a mutant STm strain limited to intestinal colonization, we show that phage-producing E. coli consistently colonized, produced high phage levels and eliminated STm from the intestinal tract. Our findings present a proof-of-concept that prophylactic prophage therapy can protect against an enteric infection.
