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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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Dinesen, A., Winther, A., Wall, A., Märcher, A., Palmfeldt, J., Chudasama, V., Wengel, J., Gothelf, K. V., Baker, J. R. & Howard, K. (2022). An Albumin Biomolecular Drug Design Stabilized through Improved Thiol Conjugation and a Modular Locked Nucleic Acid Assembly. Poster session presented at Controlled Release Society 2022 Annual Meeting, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
He, J., Steffen, J. H., Thulstrup, P. W., Pedersen, J. N., Sauerland, M. B., Otzen, D. E., Hawkins, C. L., Gourdon, P., Davies, M. J. & Hägglund, P. (2022). Anastellin impacts on the processing of extracellular matrix fibronectin and stimulates release of cytokines from coronary artery smooth muscle cells. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 22051. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26359-9
Rajabi-Abhari, A., Lee, J., Tabassian, R., Kim, J.-N., Lee, H. & Oh, I.-K. (2022). Antagonistically Functionalized Diatom Biosilica for Bio-Triboelectric Generators. Small, 18(20), Article 2107638. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202107638
Kim, B. B., Wu, H., Hao, Y. A., Pan, M., Chavarha, M., Zhao, Y., Westberg, M., St-Pierre, F., Wu, J. C. & Lin, M. Z. (2022). A red fluorescent protein with improved monomericity enables ratiometric voltage imaging with ASAP3. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 3678. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07313-1