Biomimetic behaviors in hydrogel artificial cells through embedded organelles

Artificial cells are biomimetic structures formed from molecular building blocks that replicate biological processes, behaviors, and architectures. Of these building blocks, hydrogels have emerged as ideal, yet underutilized candidates to provide a gel-like chassis in which to incorporate both biolo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2023-08, Vol.120 (35), p.1-e2307772120
Main Authors: Allen, Matthew E., Hindley, James W., O’Toole, Nina, Cooke, Hannah S., Contini, Claudia, Law, Robert V., Ces, Oscar, Elani, Yuval
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biocompatibility
Biological activity
Biological Sciences
Biomimetics
Construction
Hydrogels
Microfluidics
Organelles
Physical Sciences
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Summary:Artificial cells are biomimetic structures formed from molecular building blocks that replicate biological processes, behaviors, and architectures. Of these building blocks, hydrogels have emerged as ideal, yet underutilized candidates to provide a gel-like chassis in which to incorporate both biological and nonbiological componentry which enables the replication of cellular functionality. Here, we demonstrate a microfluidic strategy to assemble biocompatible cell-sized hydrogel-based artificial cells with a variety of different embedded functional subcompartments, which act as engineered synthetic organelles. The organelles enable the recreation of increasingly biomimetic behaviors, including stimulus-induced motility, content release through activation of membrane-associated proteins, and enzymatic communication with surrounding bioinspired compartments. In this way, we showcase a foundational strategy for the bottom–up construction of hydrogel-based artificial cell microsystems which replicate fundamental cellular behaviors, paving the way for the construction of next-generation biotechnological devices.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.2307772120