Specific labeling of outer membrane vesicles with antibiotic-conjugated probe reveals early bacterial infections in blood
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<sup>+</sup> EVs as early as 6 h post-infection, preceding positive blood cultures. In clinical samples, PmBF<sup>+</sup> EVs show superior performance for diagnosing bacterial infections and differentiate them from virus or mycoplasma infections. Our findings highlight circulating PmBF<sup>+</sup> EVs as promising biomarkers of bacterial infections.
Authors
- Jinduan Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0052-8836)
- Qianbei Li
- Zihao Ou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8722-7205)
- Dan Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5252-5105)
- Weirong Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3038-3359)
- Bo Situ (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4623-9530)
- Xixin Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7846-4425)
- Lei Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2576-8780)
- Xinyue Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0046-9524)
- Bairong He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2995-1964)
- Qianwen Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8411-5291)
- Yuanyuan Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4783-5366)
- Bingbing Ru
Institutions
- Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital (CN)
- Nanfang Hospital (CN)
- Zhangzhou Municipal Hospital of Fujian Province (CN)
- Zhujiang Hospital (CN)
- 175th Hospital of People's Liberation Army (CN)
- Zhangzhou Vocational and Technical College (CN)
- Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital (CN)
- Southern Medical University (CN)
- Guangzhou Medical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-04-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58676-8
- Citations
- 18
- Primary Topic
- Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 21.29
Funders
- Guangzhou Medical University
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province
- Southern Medical University
- Nanfang Hospital
- China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists
- Key Programme
- National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars