Membrane-Mimetic Dendrimersomes Engulf Living Bacteria via Endocytosis

There is much interest in developing vesicular microcompartments from natural and synthetic amphiphiles, enabling programmable interactions with living matter. Of particular interest is the development of vesicles capable of endocytosis of living bacteria. Despite the complexity of this process, theoretical studies predict that the endocytosis of prolate micro-objects is possible without the need of active cell machinery if the energy released upon bacterial adhesion to the membrane surpasses the energy required to bend the membrane. Nonetheless, natural liposomes and synthetic polymersomes fail to sufficiently recapitulate membrane properties to perform this advanced function. Here we report the engulfment of living bacteria into endosomes by cell-like dendrimersomes assembled from Janus dendrimers. Full engulfment occurred in less than a minute after contact. The process is driven by the adhesion of the bacterium to the dendrimersome's membrane by ultraweak interactions, comparable to those utilized by nature. The key to success relies on the combination of high flexibility and stability of the dendrimersomes. The key properties of the dendrimersomes are programmed into the molecular structures of their building blocks. The ability to support endocytosis highlights opportunities for the design and programming of dendrimersomes in biomedical research.