title: Probiotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains as biotherapeutic tools: is there room for improvement?
abstract: The probiotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae var boulardii is widely used as a low cost and efficient adjuvant against gastrointestinal tract disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and treatment of several types of diarrhea, both in humans and animals. S. boulardii exerts its protective mechanisms by binding and neutralizing enteric pathogens or their toxins, by reducing inflammation and by inducing the secretion of sIgA. Although several S. cerevisiae strains have proven probiotic potential in both humans and animals, only S. boulardii is currently licensed for use in humans. Recently, some researchers started using S. boulardii as heterologous protein expression systems. Combined with their probiotic activity, the use of these strains as prophylactic and therapeutic proteins carriers might result in a positive combined effort to fight specific diseases. Here, we provide an overview of the current use of S. cerevisiae strains as probiotics and their mechanisms of action. We also discuss their potential to produce molecules with biotherapeutic application and the advantages and hurdles of this approach. Finally, we suggest future directions and alternatives for which the combined effort of specific immunomodulatory effects of probiotic S. cerevisiae strains and ability to express desired foreign genes would find a practical application.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Dermatologia e Imunodeficiências, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mariana L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Palma
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zamith-Miranda
authors.forename: Flaviano S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Fernando A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Bozza
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nimrichter
authors.forename: Mônica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montero-Lomeli
authors.forename: Ernesto T A
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Douradinha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001691:Biological Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000378:metabolism; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory; D011994:Recombinant Proteins