Designer probiotic communities that form living coatings
Engineering bacterial multicellular structures for therapeutic applications
Researchers are building friendly bacteria that stick together into tiny living coatings to help treat wounds, mouth cavities, and vaginal conditions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Maryland, College Park NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (College Park, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11320731 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project engineers probiotic bacteria to display tiny binding proteins so the cells self-assemble into larger, living structures that can stay where needed. The team is tuning how big those bacterial clumps grow because size controls how well they stick to tissues and how quickly the body clears them. They use genetic tools to create and test surface peptides that drive multivalent cell‑to‑cell binding and scale assembly from microscopic to macroscopic sizes. The goal is to turn these living patches into products like anticavity pastes, vaginal creams, or wound dressings.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates for future trials would be people with chronic or hard-to-heal wounds, recurrent dental cavities, or frequent vaginal infections after the approach passes safety testing.
Not a fit: People seeking immediate relief or those with severely weakened immune systems may not benefit from early-stage laboratory work and could be excluded from initial human testing.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could produce probiotics that persist at a disease site and deliver longer-lasting, targeted treatments for wounds, oral cavities, or vaginal conditions.
How similar studies have performed: Early laboratory results support forming small-scale bacterial assemblies, but creating safe, larger living patches intended for human use is novel and largely untested.
Where this research is happening
College Park, United States
- Univ of Maryland, College Park — College Park, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Molinari, Sara — Univ of Maryland, College Park
- Study coordinator: Molinari, Sara
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.