Manganese Dioxide Nanozymes as Responsive Cytoprotective Shells for Individual Living Cell Encapsulation

A powerful individual living cell encapsulation strategy for long-term cytoprotection and manipulation is reported. It uses manganese dioxide (MnO₂ ) nanozymes as intelligent shells. As expected, yeast cells can be directly coated with continuous MnO₂ shells via bio-friendly Mn-based mineralization. Significantly, the durable nanozyme shells not only can enhance the cellular tolerance against severe physical stressors including dehydration and lytic enzyme, but also enable the survival of cells upon contact with high levels of toxic chemicals for prolonged periods. More importantly, these encased cells after shell removal via a facile biomolecule stimulus can fully resume growth and functions. This strategy is applicable to a broad range of living cells.