2- and 3-dimensional synthetic large-scale de novo patterning by mammalian cells through phase separation

Cachat, E., Liu, W., Martin, K. C., Yuan, X. , Yin, H. , Hohenstein, P. and Davies, J. A. (2016) 2- and 3-dimensional synthetic large-scale de novo patterning by mammalian cells through phase separation. Scientific Reports, 6, 20664. (doi: 10.1038/srep20664) (PMID:26857385) (PMCID:PMC4746622)

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Abstract

Synthetic biology provides an opportunity for the construction and exploration of alternative solutions to biological problems - solutions different from those chosen by natural life. To this end, synthetic biologists have built new sensory systems, cellular memories, and alternative genetic codes. There is a growing interest in applying synthetic approaches to multicellular systems, especially in relation to multicellular self-organization. Here we describe a synthetic biological system that confers large-scale de novo patterning activity on 2-D and 3-D populations of mammalian cells. Instead of using the reaction-diffusion mechanisms common in real embryos, our system uses cadherin-mediated phase separation, inspired by the known phenomenon of cadherin-based sorting. An engineered self-organizing, large-scale patterning system requiring no prior spatial cue may be a significant step towards the construction of self-assembling synthetic tissues.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Yin, Professor Huabing and Yuan, Dr Xiaofei
Authors: Cachat, E., Liu, W., Martin, K. C., Yuan, X., Yin, H., Hohenstein, P., and Davies, J. A.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
Journal Name:Scientific Reports
Publisher:Nature Publishing Group
ISSN:2045-2322
ISSN (Online):2045-2322
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2016 The Authors
First Published:First published in Scientific Reports 6:20664
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
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