Long-lived protein expression in hydrogel particles: towards artificial cells

Zhou, Xiaoyu; Wu, Han; Cui, Miao; Lai, Sze Nga; Zheng, Bo

doi:10.1039/c8sc00383a

Cited by 47 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…In spite of the extraordinary diversity and complexity of cell systems, they are sharing some common features ( Figure ), such as growth, division, metabolism, energy supply, protein expression, communication, migration, and molecular transport . Living cells can communicate with the neighboring cells by secreting diffusible signaling molecules and these communication pathways facilitate information transduction among cells.…”

Section: Applications Of Fabricated Artificial Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidics for Biosynthesizing: from Droplets and Vesicles to Artificial Cells

Xie

Xiong

et al. 2019

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Fabrication of artificial biomimetic materials has attracted abundant attention. As one of the subcategories of biomimetic materials, artificial cells are highly significant for multiple disciplines and their synthesis has been intensively pursued. In order to manufacture robust “alive” artificial cells with high throughput, easy operation, and precise control, flexible microfluidic techniques are widely utilized. Herein, recent advances in microfluidic‐based methods for the synthesis of droplets, vesicles, and artificial cells are summarized. First, the advances of droplet fabrication and manipulation on the T‐junction, flow‐focusing, and coflowing microfluidic devices are discussed. Then, the formation of unicompartmental and multicompartmental vesicles based on microfluidics are summarized. Furthermore, the engineering of droplet‐based and vesicle‐based artificial cells by microfluidics is also reviewed. Moreover, the artificial cells applied for imitating cell behavior and acting as bioreactors for synthetic biology are highlighted. Finally, the current challenges and future trends in microfluidic‐based artificial cells are discussed. This review should be helpful for researchers in the fields of microfluidics, biomaterial fabrication, and synthetic biology.

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Section: Applications Of Fabricated Artificial Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidics for Biosynthesizing: from Droplets and Vesicles to Artificial Cells

Xie

Xiong

et al. 2019

Small

121

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show abstract

“…Micro‐compartmentalizing DNA templates, for example, DNA brushes (Karzbrun, Tayar, Noireaux, & Bar‐Ziv, 2014) and DNA gel (Kahn et al, 2016), as opposed to microencapsulation, enabled consistent protein expression when replenished with nutrients and energy, making such platform practical for the studies of synthetic networks (Zhou, Wu, Cui, Lai, & Zheng, 2018). Such life‐like systems, while sustaining pliability and subjugation of the constituents for demanded objectives could eliminate inessential aspects of the concurrent cells (Martini & Mansy, 2011).…”

Section: Cfps: From Test Tube Reactions To Cell‐free Expression In MImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such life‐like systems, while sustaining pliability and subjugation of the constituents for demanded objectives could eliminate inessential aspects of the concurrent cells (Martini & Mansy, 2011). Hence, the opportunity for synthetic biologists to project and model living systems in a bottom‐up approach, which allows the immediate engineering of the subject, is represented by cell‐free expression systems (Zhou et al, 2018).…”

Section: Cfps: From Test Tube Reactions To Cell‐free Expression In MImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this sense, for gene therapy applications, in particular, stably expressing biomolecules within target cells is highly desirable, though yet an unrealizable effort. Accordingly, hydrogel as a novel form of a cell‐mimic particle is applicable for durable expression of proteins as well as RNAs for gene therapy as well as successful targeted cancer therapy (Zhou et al, 2018).…”

Section: Cfps: Latest Platforms and Applications In Biotechnology Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was demonstrated that cell‐mimics' communications permitted cellular differentiation according to the local environment, quorum sensing, and task distribution (Niederholtmeyer, Chaggan, & Devaraj, 2018). Equally, in the view of realizing genetic circuits, selective and persistent exchange of nutrient, waste, and energy by the porous microgel afforded an oscillatory regulated gene network and long‐lived protein expression of mCherry for 11 days (Zhou et al, 2018).…”

Section: Cfps: Latest Platforms and Applications In Biotechnology Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Cell‐free protein synthesis: The transition from batch reactions to minimal cells and microfluidic devices

Ayoubi‐Joshaghani

Dianat‐Moghadam

Seidi

et al. 2020

Biotech & Bioengineering

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Thanks to the synthetic biology, the laborious and restrictive procedure for producing a target protein in living microorganisms by biotechnological approaches can now experience a robust, pliant yet efficient alternative. The new system combined with lab‐on‐chip microfluidic devices and nanotechnology offers a tremendous potential envisioning novel cell‐free formats such as DNA brushes, hydrogels, vesicular particles, droplets, as well as solid surfaces. Acting as robust microreactors/microcompartments/minimal cells, the new platforms can be tuned to perform various tasks in a parallel and integrated manner encompassing gene expression, protein synthesis, purification, detection, and finally enabling cell‐cell signaling to bring a collective cell behavior, such as directing differentiation process, characteristics of higher order entities, and beyond. In this review, we issue an update on recent cell‐free protein synthesis (CFPS) formats. Furthermore, the latest advances and applications of CFPS for synthetic biology and biotechnology are highlighted. In the end, contemporary challenges and future opportunities of CFPS systems are discussed.

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Advanced Bioresponsive Multitasking Hydrogels in the New Era of Biomedicine

Niazi

Alizadeh

Zarebkohan

et al. 2021

Adv Funct Materials

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Advanced forms of hydrogels have many inherently desirable properties and can be designed with different structures and functions. In particular, bioresponsive multifunctional hydrogels can carry out sophisticated biological functions. These include in situ single-cell approaches, capturing, analysis, and release of living cells, biomimetics of cell, tissue, and tumor-specific niches. They can allow in vivo cell manipulation and act as novel drug delivery systems, allowing diagnostic, therapeutic, vaccination, and immunotherapy methods. In the present review of multitasking hydrogels, new approaches and devices classified into point-of-care testing (POCT), microarrays, single-cell/rare cell approaches, artificial membranes, biomimetic modeling systems, nanodoctors, and microneedle patches are summarized. The potentials and application of each format are critically discussed, and some limitations are highlighted. Finally, how hydrogels can enable an "all-in-one platform" to play a key role in cancer therapy, regenerative medicine, and the treatment of inflammatory, degenerative, genetic, and metabolic diseases is being looked forward to.

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Long-lived protein expression in hydrogel particles: towards artificial cells

Abstract: A new artificial cell was capable of long-lived protein expression and supported gene regulation and genetic oscillators.

Cited by 47 publications

References 54 publications

Microfluidics for Biosynthesizing: from Droplets and Vesicles to Artificial Cells

Microfluidics for Biosynthesizing: from Droplets and Vesicles to Artificial Cells

Cell‐free protein synthesis: The transition from batch reactions to minimal cells and microfluidic devices

Advanced Bioresponsive Multitasking Hydrogels in the New Era of Biomedicine

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