bims-biopma Biomed News
on Bioprogrammable materials
Issue of 2025–08–03
six papers selected by
Shrikrishnan Sankaran, Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien
  1. Remote control designer probiotics.
  2. Quorum sensing as a promising tool for enhancing the performance of bioelectrochemical systems: a review.
  3. Life Engineering of Materials: Artificial Materials as Plugins for Biological Regulations.
  4. Bioelectronic Delivery of Potassium Ions Controls Membrane Voltage and Growth Dynamics in Bacteria Biofilms.
  5. Ingestible optoelectronic capsules enable bidirectional communication with engineered microbes for controllable therapeutic interventions.
  6. Lactate-Fueled Bacteria Generator for Bioelectricity-Responsive Release of Antitumor Drug.
  1. Nat Microbiol. 2025 Aug;10(8): 1795-1797
    Remote control designer probiotics.
    David Carreño, David T Riglar.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02072-x
  2. 3 Biotech. 2025 Aug;15(8): 275
    Quorum sensing as a promising tool for enhancing the performance of bioelectrochemical systems: a review.
    Carla Ramírez, Natalia Padilla, Homero Urrutia.
      Climate change and water pollution are now critical global challenges due to their significant impact on environmental sustainability. Bioelectrochemical systems have emerged as an alternative to address these issues, treating wastewater while generating electricity in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. However, scale-up and commercialization have been limited by several factors, including high cost, long start-up times, and insufficient power generation. In recent years, the manipulation of the quorum sensing system has gained attention as a potential solution to improve power generation and reduce start-up times. Quorum sensing is a type of bacterial cell-to-cell communication in which bacteria produce and release chemical molecules or autoinducers to regulate their gene expression in response to cell population density, thereby controlling various microbial features. In this review, we summarize the efforts that have been made to improve the performance of different bioelectrochemical systems by manipulating the quorum sensing circuit of the microorganisms that drive these systems and we critically examine the different mechanisms by which quorum sensing could affect bioelectrochemical system's performance. Focusing on quorum sensing type 1, the most common quorum sensing circuit in Gram-negative bacteria, we categorize the different laboratory-scale approaches that have been used to understand these strategies, their gaps, and future research needs.
    Keywords:  Biofilm; Biofuel; Bioremediation; Microbial fuel cell; Wastewater
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-025-04391-6
  3. Adv Mater. 2025 Jul 28. e05767
    Life Engineering of Materials: Artificial Materials as Plugins for Biological Regulations.
    Jiake Lin, Lishan Hu, Xiaoyu Wang, Ruikang Tang.
      Biomineralization is nature's precision engineering system, creating functional biomaterials with exceptional performance through orchestrated organic-inorganic synergistic interactions. Beyond fundamental investigations into biomineralization processes and mechanisms, research has evolved from structural biomimetics toward creating interdependent material-organism hybrids through mineralization-inspired design. Breakthroughs in technologies such as inorganic ion polymerization have significantly advanced strategies for fusing artificial materials with hard tissue regeneration (teeth/bones). Through material-biological integration strategies such as extracellular assembly, artificial organelle transplantation, and artificial functional tissue construction, the creation of artificial life plugins with enhanced nongenetic biological functions (not directly encoded by the DNA) has been achieved. A key pathway to achieving mineralization-inspired design lies in the development of a material-engineered bio-plugin, the material unit with interfaces characterized by chemically tailored compatibility and programmable bio-interactions. Materials that can serve as bio-plugins confer organisms with emergent functionalities such as cell protection, vaccine enhancement, and disease treatment. This review systematically summarizes recent advancements in artificial material-biological fusion technologies, highlights their critical role in the life engineering of materials, and envisions their potential to catalyze new paradigms in biomedical applications.
    Keywords:  biomimetic materials; biomineralization; bio‐plugin; life engineering; organism–materials integration
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202505767
  4. Biomed Mater Devices. 2025 Mar;3(1): 646-654
    Bioelectronic Delivery of Potassium Ions Controls Membrane Voltage and Growth Dynamics in Bacteria Biofilms.
    Harika Dechiraju, Yixiang Li, Colin Comerci, Le Luo, Sydnie Figuerres, Niloofar Asefi, Ansel Trevino, Alexie Barbee, Maryam Tebyani, Prabhat Baniya, Mircea Teodorescu, Gürol Süel, Marco Rolandi.
      Bioelectrical signaling, or bioelectricity, is crucial in regulating cellular behavior in biological systems. This signaling, involving ion fluxes and changes in membrane potential (Vmem), is particularly important in the growth of bacterial biofilm. Current microfluidic-based methods for studying bacterial colonies are limited in achieving spatiotemporal control over ionic fluxes due to constant flow within the system. To address this limitation, we have developed a platform that integrates biofilm colonies with bioelectronic ion pumps that enable delivery of potassium (K+) ions, allowing for controlled manipulation of local potassium concentration. Our study examines the impact of controlled K+ delivery on bacterial biofilm growth patterns and dynamics. We observed significant changes in Vmem and coordination within the biofilms. Furthermore, we show that localized K + delivery is highly effective in controlling biofilm expansion in a spatially targeted manner. These findings offer insights into the mechanisms underlying bacterial signaling and growth, and suggest potential applications in bioengineering, synthetic biology, and regenerative medicine, where precise control over cellular signaling and subsequent tissue growth is required.
    Keywords:  Bioelectronics; Biofilms; Membrane potential
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s44174-024-00209-w
  5. Nat Microbiol. 2025 Aug;10(8): 1841-1853
    Ingestible optoelectronic capsules enable bidirectional communication with engineered microbes for controllable therapeutic interventions.
    Xinyu Zhang, Zhijie Feng, Hongxiang Li, Haoyan Yang, Lianyue Li, Chao Zhang, Pengxiu Dai, Hanxin Wang, Huimin Xue, Yaxin Wang, Dawei Sun, Xinyu Liu, Mingshan Li, Shenjunjie Lu, Jing Liu, Taofeng Du, Duo Liu, Hanjie Wang.
      Engineered microbes can be used for biomolecular sensing and therapeutic interventions. However, they cannot be monitored and controlled while in vivo. Here we combine optogenetically engineered Escherichia coli Nissle 1917, an ingestible optoelectronic capsule and a wireless smartphone to establish a bidirectional biological-optical-electronic signal processing chain for diagnostic or therapeutic capabilities under user control. As a proof of concept, we engineered E. coli Nissle 1917 to detect inflammation-associated nitric oxide in the pig gut and generate a bioluminescent signal for diagnosis of colitis. This signal is transduced by the optoelectronic capsule into a wireless electrical signal and remotely monitored by a smartphone. Smartphone wireless signals activate LED irradiation in the optoelectronic capsule, in turn activating the microbial expression and secretion of an anti-inflammatory nanobody to alleviate colitis in pigs. This approach highlights the potential for integrating synthetic biology and optoelectronics for digital health monitoring and controllable intervention.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02057-w
  6. Adv Healthc Mater. 2025 Jul 29. e01995
    Lactate-Fueled Bacteria Generator for Bioelectricity-Responsive Release of Antitumor Drug.
    Zhuang-Jiong Fu, Qi-Wen Chen, Zi-Yi Han, Chuan-Jun Liu, Xian-Zheng Zhang.
      In the current landscape of precision medicine, the innovation of stimulus-responsive drug delivery systems stands at the forefront of advancing targeted cancer therapies. Electrically responsive drug delivery systems show considerable application potential, but their reliance on external power sources makes it difficult for drugs to reach deep-seated tumor sites. Moreover, the issue of drug resistance during chemotherapy severely limits therapeutic efficacy. A novel strategy is proposed to address these obstacles: the utilization of electrogenic bacteria to create a bacterial generator as a substitute for conventional power sources, enabling in situ bioelectric-responsive drug release. The bacterial generator is fabricated by integrating the electrogenic bacteria Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 with the electroactive material. The accumulation of excessive lactate in tumors promotes DNA homologous recombination repair, leading to chemotherapy resistance. The fabricated bacterial generator can specifically target tumors without the need for surgical implantation, exploiting the surplus lactate as fuel to continuously generate electrons. The bioelectricity generated by the bacteria triggers the release of anti-tumor drugs encapsulated within the electroactive material, while the synergistic effects of lactate consumption and chemotherapy overcome tumor drug resistance. This bioelectricity-responsive approach leverages bacteria as in-situ micro power stations, providing a non-invasive and efficient alternative for precise cancer treatments.
    Keywords:  Shewanella oneidensis MR‐1; bioelectricity‐responsive drug release; drug resistance; lactate; tumor therapy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202501995
This page is being maintained by Thomas Krichel. It was last updated on 2025‒09‒08 at 9:03.