IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-58676-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Specific labeling of outer membrane vesicles with antibiotic-conjugated probe reveals early bacterial infections in blood

Author

Listed:
  • Qianbei Li

    (Southern Medical University)

  • Zihao Ou

    (Southern Medical University)

  • Jinduan Lin

    (Guangzhou Medical University (Qingyuan People’s Hospital))

  • Die Tang

    (Medical Laboratory of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University)

  • Bairong He

    (Southern Medical University)

  • Yuanyuan Wu

    (Southern Medical University)

  • Xinyue Huang

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Xixin Huang

    (Southern Medical University)

  • Bingbing Ru

    (Southern Medical University)

  • Qianwen Wang

    (Southern Medical University)

  • Weirong Yao

    (The Second Hospital of Zhangzhou)

  • Bo Situ

    (Southern Medical University
    Southern Medical University)

  • Lei Zheng

    (Southern Medical University
    Southern Medical University)

Abstract

Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are nano-sized structures derived from the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, which have emerged as key players in host-pathogen interactions, yet their potential as biomarkers remains largely unexplored due to the difficulty of identification in complex biological samples. Here we show an approach for detecting and quantifying bacterial OMVs in blood using a Polymyxin B-fluorescein probe (PmBF), which targets bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The probe selectively labels OMVs, enabling their differentiation from host extracellular vesicles and quantitative analysis using nano-flow cytometry. In male mouse models of pneumonia, we observe elevated serum PmBF+ EVs as early as 6 h post-infection, preceding positive blood cultures. In clinical samples, PmBF+ EVs show superior performance for diagnosing bacterial infections and differentiate them from virus or mycoplasma infections. Our findings highlight circulating PmBF+ EVs as promising biomarkers of bacterial infections.

Suggested Citation

  • Qianbei Li & Zihao Ou & Jinduan Lin & Die Tang & Bairong He & Yuanyuan Wu & Xinyue Huang & Xixin Huang & Bingbing Ru & Qianwen Wang & Weirong Yao & Bo Situ & Lei Zheng, 2025. "Specific labeling of outer membrane vesicles with antibiotic-conjugated probe reveals early bacterial infections in blood," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58676-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58676-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58676-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-58676-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lynne Turnbull & Masanori Toyofuku & Amelia L. Hynen & Masaharu Kurosawa & Gabriella Pessi & Nicola K. Petty & Sarah R. Osvath & Gerardo Cárcamo-Oyarce & Erin S. Gloag & Raz Shimoni & Ulrich Omasits &, 2016. "Explosive cell lysis as a mechanism for the biogenesis of bacterial membrane vesicles and biofilms," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Nele De Langhe & Sofie Van Dorpe & Niké Guilbert & Amélie Vander Cruyssen & Quentin Roux & Sarah Deville & Sándor Dedeyne & Philippe Tummers & Hannelore Denys & Linos Vandekerckhove & Olivier De Wever, 2024. "Mapping bacterial extracellular vesicle research: insights, best practices and knowledge gaps," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arles Urrutia & Víctor A García-Angulo & Andrés Fuentes & Mauricio Caneo & Marcela Legüe & Sebastián Urquiza & Scarlett E Delgado & Juan Ugalde & Paula Burdisso & Andrea Calixto, 2020. "Bacterially produced metabolites protect C . elegans neurons from degeneration," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-31, March.
    2. Nuno M. Oliveira & James H. R. Wheeler & Cyril Deroy & Sean C. Booth & Edmond J. Walsh & William M. Durham & Kevin R. Foster, 2022. "Suicidal chemotaxis in bacteria," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Steven J. Biller & M. Gray Ryan & Jasmine Li & Andrew Burger & John M. Eppley & Thomas Hackl & Edward F. DeLong, 2025. "Distinct horizontal gene transfer potential of extracellular vesicles versus viral-like particles in marine habitats," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58676-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.