Design rules for adhesion-driven synthetic cell motility on dynamic membranes.

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Synthetic Biology
• Cellular Mechanics

Background:

• Cell motility is crucial for biological processes.
• Synthetic cells offer simplified models to study complex cellular behaviors.
• Understanding adhesion-dependent motility is key to engineering artificial cells.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how ligand density and mobility affect adhesion-dependent cell motility using synthetic models.
• To explore the role of photoswitchable protein interactions in controlling synthetic cell adhesion and movement.
• To establish design principles for engineered synthetic cells capable of directed motility.

Main Methods:

• Utilized giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) as model systems.
• Employed photoswitchable protein interactions (iLID and nano) to create light-responsive adhesions.
• Systematically varied receptor and ligand densities to tune adhesion properties and assess motility dynamics.

Main Results:

• Ligand mobility is essential for dynamic interactions but can disrupt adhesion asymmetry and limit directional movement.
• High ligand densities enable adhesion asymmetry and GUV migration upon illumination but reduce reversibility.
• A balance between ligand mobility and density is required for reversible, light-guided motility.

Conclusions:

• Adhesion asymmetry and reversibility are critical factors in cell motility.
• Fine-tuning ligand mobility and density is essential for controlling synthetic cell movement.
• Findings provide insights into adhesion-based migration and principles for engineering synthetic cells.