A responsive living material prepared by diffusion reveals extracellular enzyme activity of cyanobacteria
Abstract
Stimuli-responsive engineered living materials (ELMs) can respond to environmental or biochemical cues and have broad utility in biological sensors and machines, but have traditionally been limited to biocompatible scaffolds. This is because they are typically made by mixing cells into a precursor solution before crosslinking. Here, we demonstrate a diffusion mechanism for incorporating cells of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus sp. PCC 7942 ( S. elongatus ) into nanoclay-poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (NC-PNIPAm), a hydrogel with a cytotoxic precursor, by exploiting its temperature-dependent shape-morphing behavior. Subsequent growth of S. elongatus caused a decrease in the bending curvature and stiffness (local Young’s modulus) of NC-PNIPAm due to partial degradation by an unannotated enzyme. Creation and observation of this cyanobacteria-hydrogel ELM showcases a method for diffusing cells into a hydrogel as well as characterizing an extracellular enzyme.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (7)
Lisa Tang
Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering, University of California, San Diego
Nathan T. Soulier
Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego
Rebecca Wheeler
Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering, University of California, San Diego
Jonathan K. Pokorski
Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering, University of California, San Diego
James W. Golden
Department of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego
Susan S. Golden
Jinhye Bae
Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering, University of California, San Diego