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Nanoerythrosome-functionalized biohybrid microswimmers
Nicole Buss, Oncay Yasa1, Yunus Alapan1
1Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
APL Bioengineering
|June 18, 2020
Summary
Researchers developed novel biohybrid microswimmers by combining engineered bacteria with red blood cell-derived nanoliposomes. This innovation enhances autonomous targeted delivery potential for medical applications, overcoming key challenges in microswimmer technology.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Microscale Robotics
- Synthetic Biology
Background:
- Biohybrid microswimmers integrate biological components with artificial carriers for targeted delivery.
- Challenges remain in motility and immunogenicity for clinical translation.
- Escherichia coli and nanoerythrosomes offer a promising platform for biohybrid systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and characterize a novel biohybrid microswimmer.
- To integrate genetically engineered Escherichia coli with nanoerythrosomes.
- To evaluate the motility performance of the developed biohybrid microswimmer.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of nanoerythrosomes via cell extrusion.
- Characterization of nanoerythrosomes using dynamic light scattering and flow cytometry.
- Conjugation of streptavidin-modified bacteria with biotin-modified nanoerythrosomes.
- Assessment of microswimmer motility compared to free-swimming bacteria.
Main Results:
- Successful fabrication and characterization of nanoerythrosomes with intact membrane proteins.
- Efficient construction of biohybrid microswimmers using non-covalent streptavidin-biotin interactions.
- Demonstrated motility performance of nanoerythrosome-functionalized microswimmers.
Conclusions:
- The developed biohybrid microswimmer design shows potential for autonomous targeted cargo delivery.
- This approach could enable personalized biohybrid microswimmers using patient-derived cells.
- High fabrication efficiency and motility performance are key advantages of this design.
