Synthesis of Cholesterol‐Substituted Glycopeptides for Tailor‐Made Glycocalyxification of Artificial Membrane Systems

Cell adhesion is a crucial feature of all multicellular organisms, as it allows cells to organise themselves into tissues to carry out specific functions. Here, we present a mimetic approach that uses multivalent lectins with opposing binding sites to crosslink glycan-functionalised giant unilamellar vesicles. The crosslinking process drives the progression from contact puncta into elongated protocellular junctions, which form the vesicles into polygonal clusters resembling tissues. Due to their carbohydrate specificity, different lectins can be engaged in parallel with both natural and synthetic glycoconjugates to generate complex interfaces with distinct lectin domains. In addition, the formation of protocellular junctions can be combined with adhesion to a functionalised support by other ligand-receptor interactions to render increased stability against fluid flow. Furthermore, we consider that adhesion is a complex process of attraction and repulsion by doping the vesicles with a PEG-modified lipid, and demonstrate a dose-dependent decrease of lectin binding and formation of protocellular junctions. We suggest that the engineering of prototissues through lectin-glycan interactions is an important step towards synthetic minimal tissues and in designing artificial systems to reconstruct the fundamental functions of biology.

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“…S6 ). The latter is a tailor-made glycopeptide which was previously presented to integrate into GUVs to generate glycodecorated vesicles 32 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lectin-mediated protocell crosslinking to mimic cell-cell junctions and adhesion

Villringer

Madl

Sych

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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“…To investigate the adhesion process, glycan-decorated vesicles can be implemented to mimic the glycocalyx layer of the cell surface. Stuhr-Hansen et al [136] reconstituted another component of the glycocalyx layer by integrating synthesized, cholesterol-anchored glycopeptides into GUVs and checked their accessibility with lectin binding.…”

Section: Assembly Of Prototissues By Protocell Cross-linking and Adhementioning

confidence: 99%

Glycan-decorated protocells: novel features for rebuilding cellular processes

Omidvar

Römer

2019

Interface Focus.

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In synthetic biology approaches, lipid vesicles are widely used as protocell models. While many compounds have been encapsulated in vesicles (e.g. DNA, cytoskeleton and enzymes), the incorporation of glycocalyx components in the lipid bilayer has attracted much less attention so far. In recent years, glycoconjugates have been integrated in the membrane of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). These minimal membrane systems have largely contributed to shed light on the molecular mechanisms of cellular processes. In this review, we first introduce several preparation and biophysical characterization methods of GUVs. Then, we highlight specific applications of protocells investigating glycolipid-mediated endocytosis of toxins, viruses and bacteria. In addition, we delineate how prototissues have been assembled from glycan-decorated protocells by using lectin-mediated cross-linking of opposed glycoreceptors (e.g. glycolipids and glycopeptides). In future applications, glycan-decorated protocells might be useful for investigating cell–cell interactions (e.g. adhesion and communication). We also speculate about the implication of lectin–glycoreceptor interactions in membrane fusion processes.

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“… 10 Recently, more complex cholesterol-substituted glycopeptides have been integrated in the creation of protocells, mimicking the glycocalyx present in cell surfaces of living organisms. 11 , 12 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tailor-made Janus lectin with dual avidity assembles glycoconjugate multilayers and crosslinks protocells

et al. 2018

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Synthesis of Cholesterol‐Substituted Glycopeptides for Tailor‐Made Glycocalyxification of Artificial Membrane Systems

Cited by 18 publications

References 20 publications

Lectin-mediated protocell crosslinking to mimic cell-cell junctions and adhesion

Lectin-mediated protocell crosslinking to mimic cell-cell junctions and adhesion

Glycan-decorated protocells: novel features for rebuilding cellular processes

Tailor-made Janus lectin with dual avidity assembles glycoconjugate multilayers and crosslinks protocells

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