Bacterial outer membrane vesicles: a new approach to diseases therapy

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are nano-sized spherical vehicles, with a size range between 20-250 nm. OMVs are spontaneously secreted from Gram-negative bacteria and formed by lipid bilayer membranes, comprising multiple parent bacteria-derived components including bacterial antigens, pathogen-associated molecular patterns, proteins and lipids. OMVs have shown multiple potentials for the treatment of various diseases, including cancer therapy and bacterial infection. In this review, the structure, composition and methods for isolating and characterizing of OMVs were introduced. The applications of OMVs for diseases therapy were summarized and future perspectives were discussed.