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Recent research news on Artificial Biology


Distinct Network Morphologies from In Situ Polymerization of Microtubules in Giant Polymer-Lipid Hybrid Vesicles

Creating artificial cells with a dynamic cytoskeleton, akin to those in living cells, is a major goal in bottom-up synthetic biology. In this study, we demonstrate the in situ polymerization of microtubules encapsulated in giant polymer-lipid hybrid vesicles (GHVs) composed of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and an amphiphilic block copolymer. The block copolymer is comprised of poly(cholesteryl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate) as the hydrophobic block and either poly(6-O-methacryloyl-D-galactopyranose) or poly(carboxyethyl acrylate) as the hydrophilic extension. Depending on the concentrations of guanosine triphosphate (GTP) or its slowly hydrolyzable analog, guanosine-5′-[(α,β)-methyleno]triphosphate (GMPCPP), different microtubule morphologies are observed, including encapsulated microtubule networks, spike protrusions, as well as membrane-associated or aggregated microtubules. Overall, this work represents a step forward in mimicking the cellular cytoskeletons and uncovering the influence of membrane composition on microtubule morphologies.

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Aller, P., Sanchez-Weatherby, J., Foadi, J., Winter, G., Lobley, C. M. C., Axford, D., Ashton, A. W., Bellini, D., Brandao-Neto, J., Culurgioni, S., Douangamath, A., Duman, R., Evans, G., Fisher, S., Flaig, R., Hall, D. R., Lukacik, P., Mazzorana, M., McAuley, K. E. ... Walsh, M. A. (2015). Application of in situ diffraction in high-throughput structure determination platforms. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 1261, 233-53. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2230-7_13
Hirsch, C., Neuhäuser, D., Gloaguen, C. & Schmidt, V. (2015). Asymptotic properties of Euclidean shortest-path trees in random geometric graphs. Statistics probability letters, 107, 122-130.
Nielsen, K. H. (2015). Between innovation and risk: Images of science and technology in artworks by Gerhard Richter and Olafur Eliasson. Abstract from International Conference on Science, Research and Popular Culture, Klagenfurt, Austria.
Nielsen, K. H. (2015). Bioteknologi. In H. Kragh & K. H. Nielsen (Eds.), 50 opfindelser: Højdepunkter i teknologien (pp. 299-303). Aarhus Universitetsforlag.