Kerstin Göpfrich, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Zoom: https://bristol-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/92032647750 Slido: #707120
DNA nanotechnology: A shortcut to synthetic cells?
The future of manufacturing entails the construction of biological systems and synthetic cells from the bottom up. Instead of relying exclusively on biological building blocks, the integration of new tools and new materials may be a shortcut towards the assembly of active and eventually fully functional synthetic cells. This is especially apparent when considering recent advances in DNA nanotechnology and microfluidics. Exemplifying this approach, we use microfluidics for the assembly of synthetic cellular compartments that we equip with functional DNA-based mimics of a cytoskeleton. These cytoskeletons are capable of stimuli-responsive reversible assembly, cargo transport and can deform giant unilamellar lipid vesicles (GUVs) from within. We further demonstrate the division of GUVs based on phase separation and osmosis rather than the biological building blocks of a cell’s division machinery. We derive a parameter-free analytical model which makes quantitative predictions that we verify experimentally. The osmolarity increase can be triggered by enzymatic reactions or by light-triggered release of caged compounds. The latter provides full spatio-temporal control, such that a target-GUV undergoes division whereas the surrounding GUVs remain unaffected. All in all, we believe that precision technologies, like DNA nanotechnology, can help to accelerate synthetic biology research.
https://www.mr.mpg.de/14414373/Biophysical-Engineering
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Image: Kerstin Göpfrich research