A Compartmentalized Out-of-Equilibrium Enzymatic Reaction Network for Sustained Autonomous Movement

Nijemeisland, Marlies; Abdelmohsen, Loai K. E. A.; Huck, Wilhelm T. S.; Wilson, Daniela A.; Hest, Jan C. M. van

doi:10.1021/acscentsci.6b00254

Cited by 141 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

138

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This enzymatic tandem was loaded in the above mentioned stomatocytes‐like motors and glucose in biological concentrations was used to autonomously drive the micromotors at speeds up to 60 µm s −1 . Further, a complex metabolic network formed by six enzymes (hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, l ‐lactate dehydrogenase, l ‐lactate oxidase, glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase and catalase) was integrated with stomatocytes‐like motors, converting multiple natural substrates and consequently offering directional motion with speeds up to 8 µm s −1 for 10 × 10 −3 m glucose . GOx was also used to functionalize gold nanoparticles grafted with PNIPAM brushes to obtain bacteria mimicking nanomotors .…”

Section: Fuel‐driven Nano/micromotorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances in Nano‐ and Micromotors

Fernández-Medina

Ramos-Docampo

Hovorka

et al. 2020

Adv Funct Materials

169

143

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nano‐ and micromotors are fascinating objects that can navigate in complex fluidic environments. Their active motion can be triggered by external power sources or they can exhibit self‐propulsion using fuel extracted from their surroundings. The research field is rapidly evolving and has produced nano/micromotors of different geometrical designs, exploiting a variety of mechanisms of locomotion, being capable of achieving remarkable speeds in diverse environments ranging from simple aqueous solutions to complex media including cell cultures or animal tissue. This review aims to provide an overview of the recent developments with focus on predominantly experimental demonstrations of the various motor designs developed in the past 24 months. First, externally driven motors are discussed followed by considering fuel‐driven approaches. Finally, a short future perspective is provided.

show abstract

Section: Fuel‐driven Nano/micromotorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances in Nano‐ and Micromotors

Fernández-Medina

Ramos-Docampo

Hovorka

et al. 2020

Adv Funct Materials

169

143

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Certain small molecules used in bacterial QS, such as N-(3-oxo-hexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, could pass through vesicle membranes (30) and the oil phase surrounding emulsion droplets (29), thus facilitating intercellular communication. Channel proteins could be used to allow transport of other signaling species across vesicle membranes (32), and stomatocytes with large openings would also freely exchange a wide range of materials with the external fluid (33). Hence, the necessary components for experimentally realizing our system are available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic quorum sensing in model microcapsule colonies

Shum

Balazs

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biological quorum sensing refers to the ability of cells to gauge their population density and collectively initiate a new behavior once a critical density is reached. Designing synthetic materials systems that exhibit quorum sensing-like behavior could enable the fabrication of devices with both self-recognition and selfregulating functionality. Herein, we develop models for a colony of synthetic microcapsules that communicate by producing and releasing signaling molecules. Production of the chemicals is regulated by a biomimetic negative feedback loop, the "repressilator" network. Through theory and simulation, we show that the chemical behavior of such capsules is sensitive to both the density and number of capsules in the colony. For example, decreasing the spacing between a fixed number of capsules can trigger a transition in chemical activity from the steady, repressed state to largeamplitude oscillations in chemical production. Alternatively, for a fixed density, an increase in the number of capsules in the colony can also promote a transition into the oscillatory state. This configuration-dependent behavior of the capsule colony exemplifies quorum-sensing behavior. Using our theoretical model, we predict the transitions from the steady state to oscillatory behavior as a function of the colony size and capsule density.quorum sensing | repressilator | microcapsules Q uorum sensing (QS) refers to the ability of organisms in a population to assess the number and density of individuals present, allowing a specific behavior to be initiated only when a critical threshold in the population size and density is reached. QS plays a vital role in the life cycle of bacteria (1, 2), yeast (3, 4), and slime molds (5, 6), as well as social insects (7). In microorganisms, QS is based on chemical signaling among individuals in a colony. Bacteria (1, 8), for example, produce and secrete signaling molecules, which diffuse into the surrounding medium where they can be detected by other cells in the population. Through regulatory networks, the signaling molecule acts as an autoinducer; the rate of production of the autoinducer increases with its concentration. When the cell density is low, the concentration of the signaling molecule is low, and production is maintained at a low, basal rate. The cells are considered to be in the "off" QS state. When the population density is high, each cell detects a high concentration of the signaling molecule resulting from the collective production of many nearby neighbors. The cells are switched "on," increasing production of the signaling molecule and activating further metabolic pathways that are triggered by QS. Hence, spatially separated cells interact through regulatory networks, which coordinate the collective behavior of the colony.An intriguing challenge in both synthetic biology and materials science is to design man-made systems that exhibit behavior analogous to QS, i.e., sensing and responding to the system size and density. Such synthetic QS abilities could provide a route to ...

show abstract

“…Limited examples come from van Hest and coworkers. For example, they described a compartmentalized out‐of‐equilibrium enzymatic reaction network for sustained autonomous movement . The system was based on bowl‐shaped PEG‐ b ‐PS polymersomes, named stomatocytes, which are formed via the osmotic pressure induced shape transformation of PEG‐ b ‐PS spherical polymersomes.…”

Section: Self‐adaptive Polymersome Nanoreactorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive Polymersome Nanoreactors

Che

Hest

2019

ChemNanoMat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adaptive polymersome systems have gained much interest in a wide variety of research fields, ranging from cell mimics to nanomedicine, because of their high stability, tunable shape and size. Furthermore, polymersomes can be effectively transformed into nanoreactors via the incorporation of catalytic species. By employing polymersomes which are adaptive in structure and function the features of polymersome nanoreactors can be even further extended. In this review, we focus on recent impressive developments of smart polymersomes as functional nanoreactors with an emphasis on the type of adaptivity that is installed, which includes intrinsic permeability, stimuli‐responsiveness and self‐adaptivity. Moreover, particular attention is given to the utility of polymersome nanoreactors in vitro and in vivo, which paves the next step forward towards the engineering of artificial organelles as therapeutic materials.

show abstract

A Compartmentalized Out-of-Equilibrium Enzymatic Reaction Network for Sustained Autonomous Movement

Cited by 141 publications

References 40 publications

Recent Advances in Nano‐ and Micromotors

Recent Advances in Nano‐ and Micromotors

Synthetic quorum sensing in model microcapsule colonies

Adaptive Polymersome Nanoreactors

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About