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Synthetic biology

Communication from the non-living world

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 15, page 442 (2014)Cite this article

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Artificial cells can translate chemical messages to modify the behaviour of bacterial cells and might thus be useful as non-living biological sensors, a new study reports. Lentini et al. generated artificial cells that contained a plasmid construct, the transcription–translation machinery and isopropyl-β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) encapsulated in a phospholipid vesicle. In co-incubation experiments with Escherichia coli cells, the artificial cells responded to theophylline treatment through their encoded riboswitch to activate expression of a membrane pore protein that resulted in release of IPTG, which diffused into the E. coli cells to modulate transcription.

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References

  1. Lentini, R. et al. Integrating artificial with natural cells to translate chemical messages that direct E. coli behaviour. Nature Commun. 5, 4012 (2014)

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  1. Darren J. Burgess
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Burgess, D. Communication from the non-living world. Nat Rev Genet 15, 442 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3775

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