Protection of Anaerobic Microbes from Processing Stressors Using Metal-Phenolic Networks.

The gut microbiome is essential to maintain overall health and prevent disease, which can occur when these microbes are not in homeostasis. Microbial biotherapeutics are important to combat these issues, but they must be alive at the time of delivery for efficacy. Many potentially therapeutic species are anaerobes and thus are difficult to manufacture because of the limited efficacy of existing protective methods, making their production nearly impossible. We have developed a self-assembling cellular coating to improve the viability and stability of the next-generation biotherapeutic Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. We show protection from both harsh processing conditions and oxygen exposure, even in the absence of canonical cryoprotectants. This advance will increase the range of microbes that can be stably manufactured and facilitate the development of emerging strains of interest by ensuring their postproduction viability.