Cell to Cell Signaling through Light in Artificial Cell Communities: Glowing Predator Lures Prey

Abstract

Cells commonly communicate with each other through diffusible molecules but nonchemical communication remains elusive. While bioluminescent organisms communicate through light to find prey or attract mates, it is still under debate if signaling through light is possible at the cellular level. Here, we demonstrate that cell to cell signaling through light is possible in artificial cell communities derived from biomimetic vesicles. In our design, artificial sender cells produce an intracellular light signal, which triggers the adhesion to receiver cells. Unlike soluble molecules, the light signal propagates fast, independent of diffusion and without the need for a transporter across membranes. To obtain a predator–prey relationship, the luminescence predator cells is loaded with a secondary diffusible poison, which is transferred to the prey cell upon adhesion and leads to its lysis. This design provides a blueprint for light based intercellular communication, which can be used for programing artificial and natural cell communities.

Controlling Synthetic Cell-Cell Communication

“…A synthetic “predator-prey” interaction was developed between two populations of SCs by adding the membrane-permeable small molecule coelenterazine to initiate intracellular bioluminescence. Light responsive proteins iLID and Nano, in the respective “predator” and “prey” SCs, subsequently adhered together to initiate Ca 2+ transfer through αHL, causing lysis of the prey SC ( Chakraborty and Wegner, 2021 ).…”

“…The construction of an autonomous synthetic cell (SC) from the bottom-up is a formidable task. Hence, rather than creating a single compartment that performs every necessary cellular function, most bottom-up SC research focuses on recapitulating specific cellular hallmarks such as metabolism ( Lee et al, 2018 ; Berhanu et al, 2019 ), division ( Zhu and Szostak, 2009 ; Kretschmer et al, 2019 ; Miele et al, 2020 ; Steinkühler et al, 2020 ; Dreher et al, 2021 ), and communication ( Lentini et al, 2014 ; Booth et al, 2016 ; Lentini et al, 2017 ; Ding et al, 2018 ; Niederholtmeyer et al, 2018 ; Rampioni et al, 2018 ; Tang et al, 2018 ; Joesaar et al, 2019 ; Toparlak et al, 2020 ; Chakraborty and Wegner, 2021 ), into simple cell models. Membrane-defined SCs have been developed from liposomes ( Stano, 2019 ), emulsion droplets ( Booth et al, 2017a ), polymersomes ( Rideau et al, 2018 ), and proteinosomes ( Huang et al, 2013 ) that feature an internal lumen surrounded by a physical boundary comprised of a lipid bilayer or monolayer, amphipathic polymers, or proteins, respectively.…”

Protocells: Milestones and Recent Advances

“…Not all protocell interactions lead to mutual benefits. [268,269] Competition for resources among the same or different species is important in natural selection. One example of predatory behavior was reported for a population of protease-containing coacervates, and proteinosomes.…”

Synthetic Cell as a Platform for Understanding Membrane-Membrane Interactions

“…Such a design can significantly help in concentrated signal release, in contrast to the uniform release of molecules through αHL. Another innovative example of concentrated signal release upon synthetic cells' contact is the work of Chakraborty et al, where the synthetic cell adhesion between prey and predator populations is triggered upon bioluminescence from predator cells that, in turn, dimerizes proteins iLID and Nano, each of which resides in the membrane of one group of synthetic cells [141]. The dimerization reconstitutes synthetic cell adhesion, which leads to opening of αHL that is blocked unless synthetic cells are in contact [142].…”