Bacterial Membrane Vesicles: Next-Generation Nanoscale Antibacterial Biomaterials

Abstract

The global rise of antibiotic resistance has created an urgent need for alternative antimicrobial strategies. Bacterial membrane vesicles (MVs), owing to their nanoscale size, natural membrane composition, and intrinsic bioactivity, have emerged as next-generation antibacterial biomaterials. This review highlights the advantages of MVs as antibacterial nanomaterials, including their ability to encapsulate, protect, and deliver antimicrobial agents, stimulate immune responses, and mediate transmembrane transport. This review further summarizes current strategies for the functionalization of MVs to reduce immunotoxicity, enhance targeting specificity, and enable antibacterial cargo loading, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy and biosafety. In addition, this review discusses the expanding applications of MVs in combating bacterial infections, with a focus on their roles as nano-antibiotics, nanovaccines, and targeted delivery platforms. As a representative example of nano-antibiotics, Staphylococcus hominis S34-1-derived MVs carrying the antimicrobial peptide micrococcin P1 effectively suppress Staphylococcus aureus infection, underscoring their therapeutic potential. Finally, the challenges and future directions for MV-based antibacterial therapies are discussed.