Functionalizing cell-mimetic giant vesicles with encapsulated bacterial biosensors
File(s)Trantidou et al. 2018 - no highlights.pdf (623.12 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Trantidou, T
Dekker, L
Polizzi, K
Ces, O
Elani, Y
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The design of vesicle microsystems as artificial cells (bottom-up synthetic biology) has traditionally relied on the incorporation of molecular components to impart functionality. These cell mimics have reduced capabilities compared with their engineered biological counterparts (top-down synthetic biology), as they lack the powerful metabolic and regulatory pathways associated with living systems. There is increasing scope for using whole intact cellular components as functional modules within artificial cells, as a route to increase the capabilities of artificial cells. In this feasibility study, we design and embed genetically engineered microbes (Escherichia coli) in a vesicle-based cell mimic and use them as biosensing modules for real-time monitoring of lactate in the external environment. Using this conceptual framework, the functionality of other microbial devices can be conferred into vesicle microsystems in the future, bridging the gap between bottom-up and top-down synthetic biology.
Date Issued
2018-10-06
Online Publication Date
2018-10-06
2018-09-24T13:08:24Z
Date Acceptance
2018-07-11
ISSN
2042-8901
Publisher
The Royal Society
Journal / Book Title
Interface Focus
Volume
8
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Source Database
manual-entry
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
EP/N016998/1
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-08-17