ABSTRACT
The use of live attenuated bacteria as prophylactic vaccines has a proven track record in human and veterinary medical praxis. In addition, bacteria-based medicines are currently developed for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, gene deficiencies, autoimmunity and allergy. Treatment of these diseases often requires an individual therapeutic approach for each patient. Hence, bacterial vectors have to be designed in a way that allows the delivery of therapeutic molecules in a spatial, temporal and quantitative deliberate manner. In order to achieve this goal, we and others have recently established the concept of in vivo remote control (IVRC) of bacterial vectors. IVRC is based on regulatory systems that mediate tight inducible expression of therapeutic molecules by the bacterial vector residing in cells or tissues of the patient upon external stimulation by physical means or administration of inducer drugs. In addition, the development of systems that allow IVRC expression of homologous or heterologous genes in bacteria constitute valuable tools for the functional analysis of host-pathogen interactions.
