Programming Cells for Dynamic Assembly of Inorganic Nano‐Objects with Spatiotemporal Control

Abstract

Programming living cells to organize inorganic nano-objects (NOs) in a spatiotemporally precise fashion would advance new techniques for creating ordered ensembles of NOs and new bio-abiotic hybrid materials with emerging functionalities. Bacterial cells often grow in cellular communities called biofilms. Here, a strategy is reported for programming dynamic biofilm formation for the synchronized assembly of discrete NOs or hetero-nanostructures on diverse interfaces in a dynamic, scalable, and hierarchical fashion. By engineering Escherichia coli to sense blue light and respond by producing biofilm curli fibers, biofilm formation is spatially controlled and the patterned NOs' assembly is simultaneously achieved. Diverse and complex fluorescent quantum dot patterns with a minimum patterning resolution of 100 µm are demonstrated. By temporally controlling the sequential addition of NOs into the culture, multilayered heterostructured thin films are fabricated through autonomous layer-by-layer assembly. It is demonstrated that biologically dynamic self-assembly can be used to advance a new repertoire of nanotechnologies and materials with increasing complexity that would be otherwise challenging to produce.

Exploiting mammalian low-complexity domains for liquid-liquid phase separation–driven underwater adhesive coatings

“…The contact angle measurements were performed with deionized water (2 μl) at room temperature ( 41 ) using a SL200KS contact angle meter (Kino) following the sessile drop method. Nanofiber coatings on diverse substrates were thoroughly washed with deionized water and dried with nitrogen gas.…”

Bacterially synthesized tellurium nanostructures for broadband ultrafast nonlinear optical applications

“…This approach has significant applicability in nanophotonics, as it opens the possibility of a non-polluting alternative to more commonly used chemical techniques 9–13 . Furthermore, the biological synthesis route was recently demonstrated for self-assembling electronic devices 14 . However, the physical properties of biologically formed Te(0)-nanoparticles are largely unexplored.…”

Engineered Living Materials based on Adhesin-mediated Trapping of Programmable Cells

“…Programmable interactions between GMMs and their surroundings have recently gained interest as the design of multicellular structures such as engineered biofilms enables a higher control over shape and functionality of ELMs [12,13]. Inducible secretion of fibrous proteins drives the emergence of molecular architectures supporting the artificial biofilms.…”

“…Hybrid micro-patterned devices combining layers of elastomer and microporous hydrogel enabled the exchange of information with surrounding environment via diffusion of chemical inducers and their sensing by GMMs while displaying high mechanical resilience [10]. Nevertheless, the low porosity of the physical barriers mitigating bacterial escape also significantly hampers the diffusion of macromolecules, reducing the repertoire of synthetic biology applications to biosensing and release of small therapeutic molecules.Programmable interactions between GMMs and their surroundings have recently gained interest as the design of multicellular structures such as engineered biofilms enables a higher control over shape and functionality of ELMs [12,13]. Inducible secretion of fibrous proteins drives the emergence of molecular architectures supporting the artificial biofilms.…”