Bacterial ghosts as carrier and targeting systems

Bacterial ghosts are empty cell envelopes originating from Gram-negative ba cteria. They have a natural outer surface make-up which provides them with the original targeting functions of the bacteria they are derived from and are thus able to bind to and/or are taken up by specific cells or tissues o f animal, human or plant origin. The extended bacterial ghost system repres ents a platform technology for creating new qualities in non-living carrier s which can be used for the specific targeting of drugs, DNA or other compo unds to overcome toxic or non-desired obstacles. Freeze dried bacterial gho sts are stable without the requirement of a cold chain and can be effective ly administered orally and aerogenically as drug carriers. The new system i s an alternative to liposomes and may have an advantage due to its higher s pecificity for targeting specific tissues, its easy method of production an d its versatility in entrapping and packaging various compounds in differen t compartments of the carriers.