Engineered skin microbiome-assisted delivery to the pilosebaceous unit

Microbes are fascinating molecular machines which can be equipped with synthetic genetic programs that allow them to produce therapeutic molecules targeted on demand upon disease sensing. Cutibacterium acnes engraftment capacity and its living habitat close to important pharmacological targets makes it an attractive chassis to create skin-delivered therapeutics. Here, we report the engineering of this bacterium, the most abundant commensal of the human skin, to produce and secrete the therapeutic molecule neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in vivo, known to modulate cutaneous sebum production.