Work

Synthetic Biology for Multiscale Designed Biomimetic Assemblies: From Designed Self-Assembling Biopolymers to Bacterial Bioprinting

Year: 2019

Type: review

Abstract: Nature is based on complex self-assembling systems that span from the nanoscale to the macroscale. We have already begun to design biomimetic systems with properties that have not evolved in nature, based on designed molecular interactions and regulation of biological systems. Synthetic biology is based on the principle of modularity, repurposing diverse building modules to design new types of molecular and cellular assemblies. While we are currently able to use techniques from synthetic biology to design self-assembling molecules and re-engineer functional cells, we still need to use guided assembly to construct biological assemblies at the macroscale. We review the recent strategies for designing biological systems ranging from molecular assemblies based on self-assembly of (poly)peptides to the guided assembly of patterned bacteria, spanning 7 orders of magnitude.

Source: Biochemistry

DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00922

Authors: Andreja Majerle, Dominik T. Schmieden, Roman Jerala, Anne S. Meyer

Institutions: National Institute of Chemistry, Delft University of Technology, University of Rochester

Language: English

Topic: Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials

Subfield: Biomaterials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green