Synthesis and patterning of tunable multiscale materials with engineered cells
Author(s)
Chen, Allen Y.; Deng, Zhengtao; Billings, Amanda N.; Seker, Urartu O. S.; Lu, Michelle Y.; Citorik, Robert James; Zakeri, Bijan; Lu, Timothy K.; ... Show more Show less
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Many natural biological systems—such as biofilms, shells and skeletal tissues—are able to assemble multifunctional and environmentally responsive multiscale assemblies of living and non-living components. Here, by using inducible genetic circuits and cellular communication circuits to regulate Escherichia coli curli amyloid production, we show that E. coli cells can organize self-assembling amyloid fibrils across multiple length scales, producing amyloid-based materials that are either externally controllable or undergo autonomous patterning. We also interfaced curli fibrils with inorganic materials, such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and quantum dots (QDs), and used these capabilities to create an environmentally responsive biofilm-based electrical switch, produce gold nanowires and nanorods, co-localize AuNPs with CdTe/CdS QDs to modulate QD fluorescence lifetimes, and nucleate the formation of fluorescent ZnS QDs. This work lays a foundation for synthesizing, patterning, and controlling functional composite materials with engineered cells.
Date issued
2014-03Department
Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Microbiology Graduate Program; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Synthetic Biology CenterJournal
Nature Materials
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Chen, Allen Y., Zhengtao Deng, Amanda N. Billings, Urartu O. S. Seker, Michelle Y. Lu, Robert J. Citorik, Bijan Zakeri, and Timothy K. Lu. “Synthesis and Patterning of Tunable Multiscale Materials with Engineered Cells.” Nat Mater 13, no. 5 (March 23, 2014): 515–523.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
1476-1122
1476-4660