A research team from the University of Basel has managed to synthesize simple, environmentally sensitive cells complete with artificial organelles. For the first time, researchers have also been able to emulate natural communication between cells using these protocells, based on the photoreceptor model of the eye. This opens new possibilities for basic research and applications in medicine.
Life is all about communication: from bacteria to multicellular organisms, living things depend on the ability of their cells to send, receive and process signals. For the first time, a research team managed to emulate natural cellular communication using synthetic cells. A team of researchers led by Professor Cornelia Palivan from the University of Basel and Professor Ben Feringa, a Nobel laureate from the University of Groningen, reports these findings in the scientific journal Advanced materials.
Palivan and his colleagues are investigating small containers made of polymers that can be loaded with specific molecules and opened in a specific way. In their current project, the team goes a step further: “We build cell-sized microcontainers filled with specialized nanocontainers,” explains Palivan. This approach allows researchers to simulate cells with cellular organelles, creating a highly simplified synthetic cell form also known as a protocell.
In their publication, the researchers describe a system of protocells made of polymers, biomolecules and other nanocomponents that is based on the transmission of signals in the retina of the eye. This system is made up of light-sensitive protocells, the “senders”, on the one hand, and receiver protocells, on the other.
light on
Inside the emitting cells are nanocontainers (essentially artificial organelles) whose membranes contain special light-sensitive molecules known as molecular motors. This allows researchers to trigger communication between the two cells using a pulse of light: when light hits the emitting cell, light-sensitive molecules open the nanocontainers, releasing their contents (let’s call it substance A) into the emitter. . inside the cell.
Substance A can then leave the sending cell through pores in its polymer layer before reaching the receiving cell through the fluid surrounding the protocells. Substance A then enters the recipient cells, again through the pores, where it finds artificial organelles that house an enzyme. In turn, this enzyme converts substance A into a fluorescent signal, and the resulting glow tells researchers that the signal transmission between sender and receiver has worked.
Calcium ions to quench the fluorescence signal.
In the model retinal photoreceptors, calcium ions also play an important role, dampening the transmission of stimuli to postsynaptic cells so that the eye can get used to bright light. Similarly, the researchers designed the artificial organelles of the recipient cells in such a way that they react to calcium ions and can dampen the conversion of substance A into a fluorescent signal.
Base for synthetic fabric.
“Using an external light pulse, we managed to activate an organelle-based signaling cascade and modulate it with calcium ions. Creating a temporally and spatially controllable system based on the natural cellular communication model is a novelty,” says Palivan.
The researchers’ development lays the foundation for synthetically emulating more complex communication networks of living cells and therefore achieving a better understanding of them. There is also the possibility of creating communication networks between synthetic and natural cells and, therefore, of developing an interface between them. In the long term, this could pave the way for therapeutic applications to, for example, treat diseases or develop tissues with synthetic cells.