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Graham AJ, Partipilo G, Dundas CM, Miniel Mahfoud IE, Halwachs KN, Holwerda AJ, Simmons TR, FitzSimons TM, Coleman SM, Rinehart R, Chiu D, Tyndall AE, Sajbel KC, Rosales AM, Keitz BK. Transcriptional regulation of living materials via extracellular electron transfer. Nat Chem Biol 2024:10.1038/s41589-024-01628-y. [PMID: 38783133 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-024-01628-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Engineered living materials combine the advantages of biological and synthetic systems by leveraging genetic and metabolic programming to control material-wide properties. Here, we demonstrate that extracellular electron transfer (EET), a microbial respiration process, can serve as a tunable bridge between live cell metabolism and synthetic material properties. In this system, EET flux from Shewanella oneidensis to a copper catalyst controls hydrogel cross-linking via two distinct chemistries to form living synthetic polymer networks. We first demonstrate that synthetic biology-inspired design rules derived from fluorescence parameterization can be applied toward EET-based regulation of polymer network mechanics. We then program transcriptional Boolean logic gates to govern EET gene expression, which enables design of computational polymer networks that mechanically respond to combinations of molecular inputs. Finally, we control fibroblast morphology using EET as a bridge for programmed material properties. Our results demonstrate how rational genetic circuit design can emulate physiological behavior in engineered living materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin J Graham
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Gina Partipilo
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Christopher M Dundas
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ismar E Miniel Mahfoud
- Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Graduate Program, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Kathleen N Halwachs
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Alexis J Holwerda
- Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Graduate Program, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Trevor R Simmons
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Thomas M FitzSimons
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Sarah M Coleman
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Rebecca Rinehart
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Darian Chiu
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Avery E Tyndall
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
| | - Kenneth C Sajbel
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Adrianne M Rosales
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Benjamin K Keitz
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
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Graham AJ, Dundas CM, Hillsley A, Kasprak DS, Rosales AM, Keitz BK. Genetic Control of Radical Cross-linking in a Semisynthetic Hydrogel. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2020; 6:1375-1386. [PMID: 33313392 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b01773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Enhancing materials with the qualities of living systems, including sensing, computation, and adaptation, is an important challenge in designing next-generation technologies. Living materials address this challenge by incorporating live cells as actuating components that control material function. For abiotic materials, this requires new methods that couple genetic and metabolic processes to material properties. Toward this goal, we demonstrate that extracellular electron transfer (EET) from Shewanella oneidensis can be leveraged to control radical cross-linking of a methacrylate-functionalized hyaluronic acid hydrogel. Cross-linking rates and hydrogel mechanics, specifically storage modulus, were dependent on various chemical and biological factors, including S. oneidensis genotype. Bacteria remained viable and metabolically active in the networks for a least 1 week, while cell tracking revealed that EET genes also encode control over hydrogel microstructure. Moreover, construction of an inducible gene circuit allowed transcriptional control of storage modulus and cross-linking rate via the tailored expression of a key electron transfer protein, MtrC. Finally, we quantitatively modeled hydrogel stiffness as a function of steady-state mtrC expression and generalized this result by demonstrating the strong relationship between relative gene expression and material properties. This general mechanism for radical cross-linking provides a foundation for programming the form and function of synthetic materials through genetic control over extracellular electron transfer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin J Graham
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Christopher M Dundas
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Alexander Hillsley
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Dain S Kasprak
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Adrianne M Rosales
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Benjamin K Keitz
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
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Mendonça PV, Moreno MJ, Serra AC, Simões S, Coelho JFJ. Synthesis of tailor-made bile acid sequestrants by supplemental activator and reducing agent atom transfer radical polymerization. RSC Adv 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6ra06087k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
This work reports the synthesis of tailor-made polymeric bile acid sequestrants (BAS) by supplemental activator and reducing agent atom transfer radical polymerization (SARA ATRP) using ecofriendly conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrícia V. Mendonça
- CEMUC
- Department of Chemical Engineering
- University of Coimbra
- 3030-790 Coimbra
- Portugal
| | - Maria João Moreno
- CQC
- Department of Chemistry
- University of Coimbra
- 3004-535 Coimbra
- Portugal
| | - Arménio C. Serra
- CEMUC
- Department of Chemical Engineering
- University of Coimbra
- 3030-790 Coimbra
- Portugal
| | - Sérgio Simões
- Bluepharma
- Indústria Farmacêutica
- SA
- 3045-016 Coimbra
- Portugal
| | - Jorge F. J. Coelho
- CEMUC
- Department of Chemical Engineering
- University of Coimbra
- 3030-790 Coimbra
- Portugal
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