The design of artificial cells is a focal point of intense research efforts. One characteristic that remains particularly hard to engineer is the responsive behavior in artificial cells. It requires the design of molecular mechanisms to receive, interpret, and react to external environmental or biochemical stimuli. This challenge is specifically addressed herein and the design of artificial cells that respond to the external chemical messenger by the activation of intracellular catalysis is…

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…

The integration of artificial and mammalian cells into semi-synthetic aggregates remains a challenge in bottom-up synthetic biology. Here, the fabrication of cell membrane vesicles (CMV) from HepG2 cells and their use as a coating for alginate microgels to produce camouflaged artificial cells (ACs) is demonstrated. These ACs are used for the assembly of either synthetic aggregates or semi-synthetic aggregates. In the first case, a predator-defendant and a liver-like synthetic aggregates are…