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Using Synthetic Biology to Engineer Living Cells That Interface with Programmable Materials
Published on: March 9, 2017
A Mammalian-Based Synthetic Biology Toolbox to Engineer Membrane-Membrane Interfaces
Hossein Moghimianavval1, Sonisilpa Mohapatra2, Allen P Liu3,4,5,6
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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Intercellular membrane-membrane interfaces are compartments with specialized functions and unique biophysical properties that are essential in numerous cellular processes including cell signaling, development, and immunity. Using synthetic biology to engineer or to create novel cellular functions in the intercellular regions has led to an increasing need for a platform that allows generation of functionalized intercellular membrane-membrane interfaces. Here, we present a synthetic biology platform to engineer functional membrane-membrane interfaces using a pair of dimerizing proteins in both cell-free and cellular environments. We envisage this platform to be a helpful tool for synthetic biologists who wish to engineer novel intercellular signaling and communication systems.
