Gu, A.A. orcid.org/0000-0001-5565-988X, Uçar, M.C. orcid.org/0000-0003-0506-4217, Tran, P. orcid.org/0000-0002-2232-5979 et al. (3 more authors) (2025) Remodeling of lipid-foam prototissues by network-wide tension fluctuations induced by active particles. Nature Communications, 16. 2026. ISSN 2041-1723
Abstract
Recent advances in the field of bottom-up synthetic biology have led to the development of synthetic cells that mimic some features of real cells, such as division, protein synthesis, or DNA replication. Larger assemblies of synthetic cells may be used to form prototissues. However, existing prototissues are limited by their relatively small lateral dimensions or their lack of remodeling ability. Here, we introduce a lipid-based tissue mimetic that can be easily prepared and functionalized, consisting of a millimeter-sized “lipid-foam” with individual micrometer-sized compartments bound by lipid bilayers. We characterize the structural and mechanical properties of the lipid-foam tissue mimetic, and we demonstrate self-healing capabilities enabled by the fluidity of the lipid bilayers. Upon inclusion of bacteria in the tissue compartments, we observe that the tissue mimetic exhibits network-wide tension fluctuations driven by membrane tension generation by the swimming bacteria. Active tension fluctuations facilitate the fluidization and reorganization of the prototissue, providing a versatile platform for understanding and mimicking biological tissues.<
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Bioinspired materials; Membrane biophysics; Synthetic biology |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 05 Mar 2025 16:45 |
Last Modified: | 05 Mar 2025 16:45 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57178-x |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41467-025-57178-x |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:223974 |