Using biological nanoparticles to understand and treat human health
The Zierden lab aims to understand the function of bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs) produced by vaginal microbes, and use these vesicles to engineer biocompatible therapies for healthy pregnancies. Given that they already exist within a host, bEVs present as an ideal platform for engineering biocompatible, largely scalable therapies. In an effort to learn from and mimic bEVs, our lab is working towards establishing bEV interactions with microbes and host cells in the female reproductive tract, determining the impacts of bEVs on pregnancy outcomes and long-term offspring development, and engineering bEVs as therapies to prevent preterm birth and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. By isolating the effects of bEVs in vivo the Zierden Lab is exploring a previously unexplored mechanism of communication between the vaginal microbiome and the host, and gain important insight into using these vesicles as therapeutics. The success of these projects will be useful for more broadly understanding host-microbe interactions and developing biomimetic therapies for women's health, gastrointestinal, and infectious disorders.
