Artificial cells can translate chemical messages to modify the behaviour of bacterial cells and might thus be useful as non-living biological sensors, a new study reports. Lentini et al. generated artificial cells that contained a plasmid construct, the transcription–translation machinery and isopropyl-β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) encapsulated in a phospholipid vesicle. In co-incubation experiments with Escherichia coli cells, the artificial cells responded to theophylline treatment through their encoded riboswitch to activate expression of a membrane pore protein that resulted in release of IPTG, which diffused into the E. coli cells to modulate transcription.
References
Lentini, R. et al. Integrating artificial with natural cells to translate chemical messages that direct E. coli behaviour. Nature Commun. 5, 4012 (2014)
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Burgess, D. Communication from the non-living world. Nat Rev Genet 15, 442 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3775
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3775