Assembling Lipid Membrane Scaffolds on Microgel-Based Artificial Cells through Vesicle Fusion onto the Hydrogel Network
Matthew E. Allen, James W. Hindley, Maya I. Müller, Kexin Cai, Marina K. Kuimova, Robert V. Law, Simon D. Connell, Seraphine V. Wegner, Oscar Ces, Yuval Elani
TL;DR
Scientists created artificial cells with a hydrogel core and a lipid membrane, enabling them to mimic biological cells and potentially be used in drug delivery and tissue engineering.
Contribution
A novel method for assembling fluid lipid membranes on hydrogel-based artificial cells through vesicle fusion.
Findings
Lipid membranes were successfully fused onto hydrogel networks to create cell-like structures.
The lipid membrane enhanced hydrogel properties like permeability and protection from degraders.
The membrane is compatible with organelle-like substructures, enabling more complex artificial cell designs.
Abstract
Artificial cells assembled from materials such as hydrogels have emerged as platforms to replicate and understand biological functionalities, processes, and behaviors. However, hydrogels lack a lipid membrane, a vital property of cellular systems. Here we develop a process for the assembly of a fluid and stable lipid membrane which coats the hydrogel mesh network within the particle, through electostatically-mediated fusion of nanoscale lipid vesicles. This confers cell-mimetic and biotechnologically relevant properties upon microscale, cell sized, hydrogel artificial cells generated through microfluidics. We exploit the properties of the created membrane to augment existing hydrogel properties through permeability alteration and protection of the hydrogel from small molecule degraders. Furthermore, we show that the lipid membrane is compatible with organelle substructures within the…
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Taxonomy
TopicsLipid Membrane Structure and Behavior · 3D Printing in Biomedical Research · Advancements in Transdermal Drug Delivery