Ricca Ezio, Cutting Simon M
School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK.
J Nanobiotechnology. 2003 Dec 15;1(1):6. doi: 10.1186/1477-3155-1-6.
Bacterial spores are robust and dormant life forms with formidable resistance properties, in part, attributable to the multiple layers of protein that encase the spore in a protective and flexible shield. The coat has a number of features pertinent to the emerging field of nanobiotechnology including self-assembling protomers and the capacity for engineering and delivery of foreign molecules. This review gives an account of recent progress describing the use of the spore, and specifically, the spore coat as a vehicle for heterologous antigen presentation and protective immunization (vaccination). As interest in the spore coat increases it seems likely that they will be exploited further for drug and enzyme delivery as well as a source of novel self-assembling proteins.
细菌孢子是具有强大抗性的坚固休眠生命形式，部分原因在于包裹孢子的多层蛋白质形成了一个保护性且灵活的护盾。孢子衣具有许多与新兴的纳米生物技术领域相关的特性，包括自组装原体以及对外源分子进行工程改造和递送的能力。本综述阐述了利用孢子，特别是将孢子衣作为异源抗原呈递和保护性免疫（疫苗接种）载体的最新进展。随着对孢子衣兴趣的增加，它们很可能会被进一步用于药物和酶的递送，以及作为新型自组装蛋白质的来源。
