bims-livmat 2026-06-28 papers

bims-livmat

Biomed News

on Living materials

Issue of 2026–06–28
seven papers selected by
Sara Trujillo Muñoz, Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien

Polymer chemistry at the living-material interface.
Engineered bacterial biofilms for biotechnological applications.
Global Probiotic Markets Meet Synthetic Biology: Translational Challenges and Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 as a Model Chassis.
Development of Sodium Alginate/Cellulose Nanofiber (SA/CNF)-Based Hydrogels for Enhancing Probiotic Stability.
Thermo-Responsive Living Microspheroids Enable a Regenerative Living Disk-Drive System for DNA Data Storage.
Flaxseed gum-reinforced sodium alginate semi-interpenetrating polymer network W1/O/W2 emulgels for targeted co-delivery of prebiotics and engineered "living factory": a novel next-generation synbiotic system for anoxia-triggered synergistic inulin metabolism.
Hydrogel-based cellular drug delivery systems as living therapeutics: Micro/nanogel design, fabrication, and controlled release.

Chem Sci. 2026 Jun 15.

Polymer chemistry at the living-material interface.

Masamu Kawada, Seunghyun Sim.

Engineered living materials (ELMs) integrate living functionalities into synthetic materials. Although most ELM studies emphasize cellular functionality, the polymer matrix represents an equally powerful design space: not merely a passive scaffold but a primary tool for programming living material behavior. Synthetic polymers can be designed to tune bulk mechanical properties, mediate dynamic responses, enforce biocontainment, and bridge biological and synthetic domains through engineered polymer-cell interfaces. This Perspective establishes key design principles that emerge when polymer chemistry and living cells are treated as an integrated system, emphasizing how molecular control over the living-material interface governs the mechanical, functional, and dynamic properties of next-generation biohybrid and biocomposite materials.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc03387c
Trends Biotechnol. 2026 Jun 26. pii: S0167-7799(26)00243-X. [Epub ahead of print]

Engineered bacterial biofilms for biotechnological applications.

Nona Hashemi, Karen O Osiro, Octavio L Franco, Samuel M D Oliveira.

  Bacterial systems are emerging as living technologies for sustainable manufacturing, environmental monitoring, agriculture, and health. They form biofilms, that is, living materials, which can be repurposed in biological applications due to their properties, for example, surface attachment, matrix formation, spatial organization, and stress tolerance. Advances in bioengineering have identified the benefits of biofilms for biotechnological applications. This review defines engineered bacterial biofilms (EBBs) as biofilms formed by engineered bacterial chassis and biofilm-related genes, genetically modified to perform defined biological functions. We present representative EBB engineering and application case studies and propose a life cycle framework spanning biofilm preformation, formation, and postformation. By highlighting definitions, examples, enabling tools, and translational barriers, this review provides design principles for developing reliable, safe, and application-ready biofilm technologies.

Keywords:  biofilm life cycle; engineered bacterial biofilms; engineered living materials; microbial biosensing; synthetic biology

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2026.06.003
Microorganisms. 2026 Jun 11. pii: 1306. [Epub ahead of print]14(6):

Global Probiotic Markets Meet Synthetic Biology: Translational Challenges and Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 as a Model Chassis.

Jinjin Chen, C Perry Chou, Yilan Liu.

  The global probiotic market is expanding rapidly, driven by growing demand for accessible strategies to support gut health, preventive care, and microbiome-based interventions. However, this commercial growth contrasts with the limited number of clinically validated, mechanism-driven products, highlighting a persistent gap between market expansion, scientific evidence, and therapeutic translation. Most current probiotics remain dominated by conventional genera, including Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Bacillus, Saccharomyces, and Streptococcus, whereas live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) remain scarce. Synthetic biology is beginning to address this gap by transforming probiotics from empirically selected strains into programmable microbial platforms that sense disease-associated signals and produce defined therapeutic outputs. Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) offers a valuable model chassis for engineered probiotics because of its long history of human use, safety record, genetic tractability, transient gut colonization, and scalable cultivation. As a rare Gram-negative probiotic, EcN naturally produces outer membrane vesicles that support host interaction, immunomodulation, and therapeutic cargo delivery. This review links probiotic market expansion with live biotherapeutic development and uses EcN to discuss emerging engineering strategies, therapeutic opportunities, and remaining translational barriers.

Keywords:  EcN; engineering strategies; live biotherapeutic products; probiotic market; synthetic biology

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14061306
Gels. 2026 Jun 02. pii: 491. [Epub ahead of print]12(6):

Development of Sodium Alginate/Cellulose Nanofiber (SA/CNF)-Based Hydrogels for Enhancing Probiotic Stability.

Hyeon Ji Jeon, Bo Yeong Park, Ju Hyun Min, Gyu Ri Shin, Hye Min Jeong, Kwang Yong Seol, Ju-Hoon Lee, Younghoon Kim, Jungwoo Yang, Young Hoon Jung.

  Probiotics can promote gut health, but their efficacy is often limited by low viability and metabolic activity in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This study aimed to develop protective hydrogels for encapsulating Lactiplantibacillus plantarum CJLP 133 using a composite matrix of sodium alginate (SA) and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs). L. plantarum CJLP 133-loaded hydrogel beads were fabricated via the ionic gelation technique using an optimized formulation of SA and CNF. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that CNF integration improved spherical morphology with reduced surface cracking. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between SA and CNF. CNF integration also reduced gumminess and chewiness, resulting in a softer texture. The survival rate of L. plantarum CJLP 133 remained high following thermal exposure and freeze-drying. The in vitro GI delivery system demonstrated a protective swelling profile in stimulated gastric fluid and a targeted, highly efficient release profile in stimulated intestinal fluid. Finally, the 3% SA + 0.5% CNF hydrogel with L. plantarum CJLP 133 exhibited significant synbiotic effects, enhancing probiotic growth, intestinal adhesion, and butyrate and succinate production. These results suggest that the SA/CNF-based hydrogel is an effective delivery system that ensures the targeted release of probiotics within the GI tract.

Keywords:  cellulose nanofibers; delivery system; hydrogels; probiotics; sodium alginate

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12060491
Adv Mater. 2026 Jun 23. e73806

Thermo-Responsive Living Microspheroids Enable a Regenerative Living Disk-Drive System for DNA Data Storage.

Hao Luo, JinKai Gao, XiangXiang Huang, YongCong Fang, TianYu Huang, YingKai Xia, ZeYang Yu, ChengHao Cao, Zhuo Xiong.

  DNA offers exceptional information density and long-term stability, yet its practical deployment is limited by destructive readout and the absence of a reusable, physically addressable architecture that connects nanoscale molecular information with macroscale device-level data organization. Here, we present a regenerative Living Disk-Drive system based on thermo-responsive engineered living memory microspheroids (ELMMs), in which data-encoded bacteria are encapsulated as discrete, file-level living storage units. Each ELMM contains a clonal bacterial population carrying both an information plasmid, which encodes 26 × 26 pixel icon payloads and one- to three-color intracellular fluorescent retrieval indices, and a help plasmid that enables CRISPR-Cas12a/λ-Red rewriting of the data sequence and retrieval tag. A lyophilized ELMM database forms the Living Disk, which is coupled to an Optical Retriever and desktop-scale Living Drive for closed-loop retrieval, regeneration, and database replenishment. Released bacteria regrow for downstream readout or rewriting, while a fraction is re-encapsulated into new ELMMs. The tested system retains retrieval, regrowth, and sequence recovery after four months of ambient dry storage and 13 lyophilization-rehydration cycles. Model-based performance estimates are reported only as theoretical architecture-level bounds. These results establish an experimentally bounded yet extensible architecture for physically manageable and regenerative DNA memory.

Keywords:  DNA data storage; engineered living memory microspheroids; in vivo DNA memory; living disk–drive system; regenerative storage

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73806
Int J Biol Macromol. 2026 Jun 24. pii: S0141-8130(26)03128-4. [Epub ahead of print] 153201

Flaxseed gum-reinforced sodium alginate semi-interpenetrating polymer network W1/O/W2 emulgels for targeted co-delivery of prebiotics and engineered "living factory": a novel next-generation synbiotic system for anoxia-triggered synergistic inulin metabolism.

Rui Zhao, Yukun Xue, Changhui Fan, Yingjuan Yao, Lizhang Liu, Jianbang Kang, Ruigang Hou, Shaowei Wang, Xiao Zhang.

  The metabolic heterogeneity of host microbiota often limits the health benefits of inulin-type prebiotics. By integrating synthetic biology with advanced biological macromolecule assembly, we report a next-generation engineered synbiotics (ES) platform (ES-CG-W/O/W), fabricated via the direct calcium-crosslinked gelation (CG) of the continuous phase in W/O/W emulsion. Escherichia coli Nissle1917 was re-engineered into a biosafety-enhanced chassis, programmed for targeted inulinase secretion featuring anoxia-responsiveness. To provide a robust structural microenvironment and ensure the synchronized co-delivery of the "living factory" and inulin, a rationally designed W1/O/W2 emulgel system was developed. Primary emulsification was optimized at an 8:2 oil-to-water ratio employing 8.0 wt% Polyglycerol-Polyricinoleate (PGPR) as emulsifier and 3% glucose for osmotic balance. The precursor was embedded within a flaxseed gum-reinforced alginate external phase at a 1:2 mass ratio. Upon Ca2+ crosslinking, an in-situ sol-gel transition was triggered, where ionic "egg-box" gelation synergized with semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) formation to create a structurally arrested network (zero-shear viscosity, 1.79 × 107 mPa·s), immobilizing oil droplets within a dense filamentous matrix. This self-supporting texture (hardness of 0.46 ± 0.05 N) successfully emulated the mechanical attributes of solid fats. The ES-CG-W/O/W emulgel exhibited robust gastric resilience while achieving pH-triggered disintegration within 2 h upon exposure to neutral intestinal conditions (pH 6.0). Activation of the programmed dual-enzyme system achieved 20.0% inulin hydrolysis at 4 h, conferring functional efficacy independent of host microbial heterogeneity. Ultimately, this study establishes next-generation synbiotics as a deterministic paradigm through a programmable living colloidal rational strategy, enabling precision microbiota modulation independent of host heterogeneity.

Keywords:  Flaxseed gum; Programmable living synbiotics; Semi-interpenetrating polymer network emulgels

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2026.153201
J Control Release. 2026 Jun 24. pii: S0168-3659(26)00533-X. [Epub ahead of print] 115130

Hydrogel-based cellular drug delivery systems as living therapeutics: Micro/nanogel design, fabrication, and controlled release.

A Sanem Yilmaz, Alfonso Pepe, Juliana E Castelli, W Gregory Sawyer, Michael Dunne.

  Hydrogel-based cellular drug delivery systems combine the active homing capacity of living cells with the tunable loading and release properties of polymeric depots, offering a compelling alternative to conventional nanoparticle-based delivery. In these platforms, therapeutic micro- and nanogels are physically or chemically coupled to carrier cells while preserving native cell migration and function. Despite rapid growth of the field, key relationships between hydrogel fabrication, controlled release behavior, and carrier cell biology remain insufficiently integrated. This review analyzes hydrogel-based cellular delivery systems developed over the past ~15 years, with a specific focus on micro- and nanoscale hydrogel formats (micro/nanogels) in the cellular delivery context, distinguishing them from macroscale bulk hydrogel depots, and with emphasis on nano- and micro-scale fabrication strategies, multilayer depot architectures, and mechanisms enabling sustained and localized release. By evaluating recent primary studies, we identify dominant material choices, carrier cell types, attachment strategies, and payload classes across cellular backpack and hitchhiking platforms. The review highlights how hydrogel composition and spatial organization directly influence release kinetics, biological activity, and therapeutic performance. The reviewed studies consistently indicate that hydrogel chemistry, carrier-cell selection, and depot architecture jointly determine therapeutic performance.

Keywords:  Cell hitchhiking; Cellular backpack; Cellular drug delivery; Controlled release; Immunotherapy; Micro/nanogel

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2026.115130