bims-livmat Biomed News
on Living materials
Issue of 2026–05–10
seven papers selected by
Sara Trujillo Muñoz, Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien
  1. Engineering an Optogenetic pH-Modulator in Bacteria.
  2. Filamentous fungal synthetic biology: Current applications and ongoing developments.
  3. Unraveling the potential and challenges of photosynthetic microalgae for oxygenating engineered tissues.
  4. Quorum-sensing-responsive materials: Toward living smart interfaces in biomedical systems.
  5. Multiplexed CRISPR base editing enables pulse-activated irreversible biocontainment of engineered bacteria.
  6. Engineering a T7 bacteriophage to attenuate LPS-driven inflammatory responses during bacteriolysis.
  7. Let There be Light! Light as an Engine and Regulator in Synthetic Cells.
  1. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026 May 07. e24319
    Engineering an Optogenetic pH-Modulator in Bacteria.
    Jenevieve Kuang, Olivia J Armendarez, Wei-Ting Chang, Matthew M Hausladen, Shanna Bonanno, Daniel J Wilson, Neel S Joshi, Leila F Deravi.
      Cells in many naturally occurring organisms routinely cooperate to control their extracellular pH in a dynamic and reversible manner, but this capability has been underexplored in synthetic biology. Here, we sought to engineer a microbial system that switches between two states -high and low extracellular pH- with minimal human intervention. We accomplished this by combining: (1) a genetic circuit that produces recombinant urease under the control of a light-inducible promoter; (2) a degradation tag on urease to accelerate the high-to-low pH transition; and (3) optimization of several environmental factors, including media composition, replenishment rate, and light exposure patterns. The system raises the pH when urease is produced and hydrolyzes urea in the media to produce ammonia; it lowers the pH as a byproduct of the cell's native metabolism when urease production ceases. We demonstrate that the optimized system cycles continuously for up to 14 days with minimal performance loss. Overall, our system demonstrates synthetic pH control in an engineered living system and highlights challenges and potential solutions for using such systems outside of the context of typical laboratory manipulation.
    Keywords:  deployable living systems; engineered living material; light‐responsive bacteria; optogenetics; pH modulation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202524319
  2. Biotechnol Adv. 2026 Apr 30. pii: S0734-9750(26)00118-7. [Epub ahead of print] 108912
    Filamentous fungal synthetic biology: Current applications and ongoing developments.
    Richard A Hill.
      Filamentous fungi have played an undeniable role in the biosphere for hundreds of millions of years and, for humans, have increasingly been developed as sources of food, medicine and other resources; their uses growing to include materials science and bioremediation. As these developments have gained pace, a variety of disparate fields are making new advances and turning to synthetic biology to increase their potential. As genetic sequencing and computing technologies widen our knowledge of the different species of fungi, synthetic biology enables us to harness and expand their unique traits. These developments are discussed in the context of these existing and emerging applications of engineering and synthetic biology, so that they might be more widely understood, thus promoting the standardisation of language and innovation. Certain challenges and research gaps within the investigated research fields are also highlighted, as are various opportunities and connections found during the exploration of these fields, and the impact of developing technologies including 3D printing and cell-free systems.
    Keywords:  3D Printing; Biomaterials; Bioreactors; Bioremediation; Engineered living materials; Fungi; Mycoelectronics; Myconanotechnology; Synthetic Biology
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2026.108912
  3. Biomater Adv. 2026 Apr 29. pii: S2772-9508(26)00209-8. [Epub ahead of print]186 214911
    Unraveling the potential and challenges of photosynthetic microalgae for oxygenating engineered tissues.
    Francisca G Perfeito, Andreia Cerqueira, Silja Frankenbach, Telma Veloso, Tânia Vidal, Joana Luísa Pereira, João Serôdio, Mariana B Oliveira, João F Mano.
      Hypoxia remains a major barrier to the viability and function of engineered large tissue constructs. Conventional strategies such as oxygen-releasing biomaterials and pre-vascularization have shown partial success, often constrained by scalability and long-term sustainability. Co-culturing photosynthetic microalgae and animal cells offers an alternative by establishing living oxygen factories that locally convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and thus mitigate hypoxia. Despite the promise of this symbiotic approach, inherent challenges remain, including physiological incompatibilities between microalgae and animal cells, susceptibility to prolonged exposure to light by animal cells, and nutrient competition. In this perspective, we first highlight the potential and challenges of co-cultures between microalgae and animal cells. The discussion is then followed by showcasing experimental strategies for optimizing photosynthetic oxygen delivery in a continuous millimetric three-dimensional extracellular matrix-mimicking environment. Using alginate hydrogel beads containing Chlorella vulgaris and L929 cells, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept in which light-driven oxygenation significantly enhanced animal cell viability and functionality up to 7 days of culture. Relevant setbacks in the replication of results were met between independent experiments, revealing that the proposed hybrid cultures still face difficult-to-control aspects. While emphasizing the need for standardized methodologies and reliable optimal predictors of co-culture performance, our findings strengthen the compatibility of Chlorella vulgaris with animal cells in culture, as well as the potential of microalgae as a sustainable, low-cost, and environmentally friendly oxygen source for the next generation of advanced engineered tissues, in vitro models, and future food systems. Importantly, this study does not aim to achieve sustained oxygen-autonomous constructs, but instead defines the compatibility window, transient benefits, and reproducibility limits of direct microalgae-animal cell co-culture under standard animal culture conditions.
    Keywords:  Chlorella vulgaris; Living materials; Microalgae-animal cell co-culture; Oxygen-generating biomaterials; Photosynthetic microalgae; Photosynthetic oxygenation; Three-dimensional hydrogels; Tissue engineering
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioadv.2026.214911
  4. Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2026 May 01. pii: S0001-8686(26)00143-0. [Epub ahead of print]355 103918
    Quorum-sensing-responsive materials: Toward living smart interfaces in biomedical systems.
    Santosh Pandit, Demet Erdönmez, Duygu Polat, Burcu Önal Acet, Mustafa Dolaz, Mehmet Odabaşı, Ivan Mijakovic, Ömür Acet.
      Quorum-sensing-sensitive materials are emerging as innovative platforms with significant clinical potential, particularly in the areas of infection diagnosis, targeted antimicrobial therapy, and wound management. By leveraging bacterial communication molecules such as acylhomoserine lactones and autoinducer peptides, these smart materials can detect early pathogenic activity before overt clinical symptoms appear. By sensing quorum-signaling thresholds associated with virulence activation or biofilm formation, the materials can trigger controlled antimicrobial release, modulate local immune responses, or modify surface properties to prevent bacterial adhesion. Such "living" interfaces offer a dynamic alternative to traditional passive biomaterials, enabling real-time, infection-specific therapeutic effects with reduced systemic drug exposure. This review summarizes the clinical significance, mechanism-driven design principles, and translational challenges of quorum-sensing-sensitive materials, highlighting their potential to address antibiotic resistance, improve patient outcomes, and support precision infection control in modern healthcare.
    Keywords:  Bacteria-responsive materials; Biomedical applications; Living materials; Quorum sensing; Smart interfaces
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2026.103918
  5. Nucleic Acids Res. 2026 Apr 23. pii: gkag422. [Epub ahead of print]54(8):
    Multiplexed CRISPR base editing enables pulse-activated irreversible biocontainment of engineered bacteria.
    Sung Won Cho, TaeHyun Kim, Jina Yang, Gibyuck Byun, Sang Woo Seo.
      The environmental and therapeutic application of genetically engineered microorganisms necessitates the development of robust, irreversible biocontainment systems. In this study, we present an eEGM (editing-driven essential gene multiplex inactivation) module that utilizes CRISPR-mediated cytidine base editing to induce permanent self-killing via a single transient induction. By targeting the start codons of essential genes, we achieved an irreversible translational blockade that avoids the fitness costs associated with basal toxicity in nuclease-based systems. Multiplexed targeting of non-redundant essential loci (holA, ftsB, and dfp) yielded escape frequencies at or below the NIH guideline criterion (10-8) within 1 h of pulse induction. Furthermore, the eEGM system exhibited robust functional orthogonality and portability across laboratory, industrial, and therapeutic Escherichia coli strains, including MG1655, W3110, and Nissle 1917, without detectable interference with heterologous protein expression. This work establishes base editing as a cleavage-free CRISPR effector for pulse-activated, irreversible biocontainment and provides a practical framework for safer deployment of engineered microbes.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkag422
  6. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2026 May 04. e0230325
    Engineering a T7 bacteriophage to attenuate LPS-driven inflammatory responses during bacteriolysis.
    Tong Yu, Junjiao Pang, Mengge Chen, Qi Sun, Jiaqi Pu, Deshu Wang, Qingling Liu, Fengtang Yang, Hongkuan Deng.
      Bacterial lysis during treatment of Gram-negative infections can release lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and aggravate inflammation. Here, we engineered two complementary T7 bacteriophages: T7-nluc, a NanoLuc reporter bacteriophage for real-time monitoring of viable bacteria, and T7-phoa, a therapeutic bacteriophage that releases alkaline phosphatase (PhoA) during lysis to reduce LPS bioactivity. Both engineered bacteriophages retained lytic activity similar to that of wild-type T7. In vitro, T7-nluc produced a low-background bioluminescent signal that reflected bacterial burden, whereas T7-phoa released catalytically active PhoA into the extracellular environment. In Galleria mellonella and Danio rerio infection models, T7-nluc enabled dynamic monitoring of infection progression, while T7-phoa improved survival, reduced inflammatory responses, and accelerated inflammatory resolution without compromising bacterial clearance. These findings support a modular bacteriophage engineering strategy that combines bacterial killing, real-time infection monitoring, and local attenuation of LPS-driven inflammation, offering a potential approach for improving bacteriophage-based treatment of Gram-negative infections.
    IMPORTANCE: Bacteriophage therapy is being reconsidered for treating drug-resistant Gram-negative infections, but there is concern that rapid bacterial lysis may release LPS and worsen inflammation. We used bacteriophage T7 as a platform to test whether bacteriophages can be engineered to both fight bacteria and soften these harmful host responses. First, we created a NanoLuc reporter bacteriophage that produces light only when it grows in live bacteria, confirming that engineered bacteriophages can deliver active proteins directly in infected animals. We then built a therapeutic T7-phoa bacteriophage designed to release enzymatically active alkaline phosphatase upon on-target lysis, thereby providing lysis-coupled local phosphatase activity at the infection site. In both G. mellonella and Danio rerio models, infection-site fluids collected after treatment showed elevated phosphatase activity in the T7-phoa group, and the treatment was associated with lower inflammatory peaks, improved survival, and preserved bacterial clearance. Together, these results support a modular route for bacteriophage-based strategies that couple bacterial killing with real-time reporting and local control of LPS associated inflammation.
    Keywords:  alkaline phosphatase; bacteriophage therapy; engineered bacteriophage; inflammatory factor
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02303-25
  7. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2026 May 06. e4174230
    Let There be Light! Light as an Engine and Regulator in Synthetic Cells.
    Matthew E Allen, Saskia Frank, Mehaiarii Louis, Atreyee Saha, Ali Heidari, Seraphine V Wegner.
      Synthetic cells, assembled from defined molecular components, are designed to mimic the features, form, and function of living cells. Light has emerged as a uniquely precise, biorthogonal, and non-invasive stimulus for regulating and energizing these systems, enabling chemical inhomogeneity and an out-of-equilibrium state central to many cellular processes. This review highlights the biological behaviors and functions that light has helped recreate in synthetic cells, including compartmentalization, energy supply and metabolism, protein synthesis, communication, growth, shape change and division, and motility. We survey the breadth of light-responsive components incorporated into synthetic cells, spanning photoswitchable and photocleavable small molecules, photoswitchable proteins, photocatalysts, nanoparticles, and photosynthetic organelles or organisms. Finally, we offer a perspective on key design considerations such as wavelength, reversibility, integration, biocompatibility, multicolor regulation, and biohybrid strategies. Together, these advances chart promising routes toward more dynamic, energy-autonomous, and programmable synthetic cells that will deepen our understanding of cellular functions and enable emerging biotechnological applications.
    Keywords:  light; photoswitchable; spatiotemporal regulation; synthetic biology; synthetic cells
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.4174230
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