title: The role of bacterial outer membrane vesicles for intra- and interspecies delivery.
abstract: An increasing number of Gram-negative bacteria have been observed to secrete outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). Many mysteries remain with respect to OMV formation, the regulation of OMV content and mode of targeting and fusion. Bacterial OMVs appear to serve a variety of purposes in intra- and interspecies microbial extracellular activities. OMVs have been shown to mediate cell-to-cell exchange of DNA, protein and small signalling molecules. The impact of such material exchanges on microbial communities and pathogenic processes, including the delivery of toxins at high concentration through OMVs, is discussed. This rather recent aspect of microbial ecology is likely to remain an important area of research as an in-depth understanding of OMVs may allow new approaches for combating bacterial infections and provide new routes for selective drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. jeberleman@lbl.gov
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berleman
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Auer
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001692:Biological Transport; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial