Multistimuli Sensing Adhesion Unit for the Self‐Positioning of Minimal Synthetic Cells

Abstract

Cells have the ability to sense different environmental signals and position themselves accordingly in order to support their survival. Introducing analogous capabilities to the bottom‐up assembled minimal synthetic cells is an important step for their autonomy. Here, a minimal synthetic cell which combines a multistimuli sensitive adhesion unit with an energy conversion module is reported, such that it can adhere to places that have the right environmental parameters for ATP production. The multistimuli sensitive adhesion unit senses light, pH, oxidative stress, and the presence of metal ions and can regulate the adhesion of synthetic cells to substrates in response to these stimuli following a chemically coded logic. The adhesion unit is composed of the light and redox responsive protein interaction of iLID and Nano and the pH sensitive and metal ion mediated binding of protein His‐tags to Ni2+‐NTA complexes. Integration of the adhesion unit with a light to ATP conversion module into one synthetic cell allows it to adhere to places under blue light illumination, non‐oxidative conditions, at neutral pH and in the presence of metal ions, which are the right conditions to synthesize ATP. Thus, the multistimuli responsive adhesion unit allows synthetic cells to self‐position and execute their functions.

Reconstituting Natural Cell Elements in Synthetic Cells

“…With these modules, the synthetic cell is able to use the presence of light, non‐oxidative conditions, neutral pH, and the presence of metal ions in order to determine if it will adhere to a particular surface. [ 136 ] It is this complex multi‐stimulation sensing ability that will allow synthetic cells to approach the complexity of environmental interaction that is apparent in live cells.…”

Building programmable multicompartment artificial cells incorporating remotely activated protein channels using microfluidics and acoustic levitation

“…Such structures can be formed by the encapsulation of lipid-bounded aqueous droplets and biomolecule complexes, within a host (envelope) droplet [17,18], where each droplet may contain different biochemical species. Recent work has demonstrated that organelle-like components can work as functional units to process molecular signals [19,20], regulate sequential reactions [21,22,23], and may be used for energy harvesting [24] within artificial cells. Furthermore, compartmentalisation has been harnessed in similar ways in the packing and patterning of individual protocells to construct more complex, functional, tissue-like materials, incorporating protein channels [25], DNA sequences [26], and functional hydrogels [27].…”

Bottom-Up Synthesis of Artificial Cells: Recent Highlights and Future Challenges

“…Remarkably, one of their main appeals-the ability to harness solar energy-remains to this day almost entirely unexplored. Regarding orthogonality, the growing portfolio of light-switchable components in SynBio, such as optogenetic tools (which sometimes rely on similar proteins) or dimerizable proteins for localization (45), requires additional care to avoid undesired cross talk and coactivation. In contrast, only a few chemically driven proton pumps for energy regeneration have been reported.…”

“…Notably, to the best of our knowledge, this bottom-up organelle was the first to harness solar energy to drive protein synthesis (54), highlighting the potential for autonomous and sustainable operation. An energy module with the above composition was also used in combination with a multi-stimuli-sensitive adhesion unit able to sense light, metal ions, oxidative stress, and pH, resulting in its localization in an optimal environment (45). Furthermore, the same light-driven energy module was used to control the beating frequency of flagella via activation of axonemal dyneins (55).…”